<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: left|thumb|200px|Thousand Island International Bridge, Canadian side, northbound. -->

The Thousand Islands International Bridge () is an American-maintained international bridge system over the Saint Lawrence River connecting northern New York in the United States with southeastern Ontario in Canada. Constructed in 1937, with additions in 1959, the bridges span the Canada–US border in the middle of the Thousand Islands region. All bridges in the system carry two lanes of traffic, one in each direction, with pedestrian sidewalks.

Structure

The Thousand Islands International Bridge system is a series of five bridges spanning the St. Lawrence River. From south to north, they are:

  1. American mainland to Wellesley Island (main span and the Federal Bridge Corporation, a Crown corporation owned by the Canadian federal government. The TIBA is responsible for management and operation of the bridge. No other ETC transponders are currently offered or accepted, although the Bridge Authority offers sales of transponders of Florida's SunPass for the convenience of Canadian travellers en route to Florida.

Border crossing

The Thousand Islands Border Crossing connects the towns of Alexandria Bay, New York, and Ivy Lea, Ontario, at the Thousand Islands Bridge.

It is the westernmost of the three St. Lawrence River crossings, and is very busy, with up to two-hour waits in the summer. The US border station at Alexandria Bay is sometimes called Thousand Islands. The Canada border station of Lansdowne is sometimes called Gananoque, for the nearby town where international ferry service is provided. These border stations are also responsible for inspecting vessel traffic between the countries. The US has seasonal vessel inspection stations on Heart Island and at Cape Vincent, New York, and Canada has seasonal vessel inspection stations at Rockport, Ontario, and Gananoque, Ontario. Both Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) travel to selected ports and marinas on request for inspections.

History

The entire Thousand Islands Bridge system took sixteen months to build, beginning with a ground-breaking on April 30, 1937. Completed ten weeks ahead of schedule, the bridges opened on August 18, 1938, with the ribbon cut by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Its total cost was $3.05 million (equivalent to $ million in dollars).

Shortly after opening, the bridge displayed aerodynamic oscillation problems that were quickly corrected via structural upgrades.

In its first year of operation, over 118,000 vehicles crossed the bridge. Today, annual crossings exceed 2,000,000 vehicles.

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File:DSCN4277 1000islandsbridge e.jpg|Toll plaza on the Thousand Islands Bridge

File:Thousand Islands Bridge from Ivy Lea 2.jpg|Thousand Island bridge view from Ivy Lea

File:Thousand Islands Bridge.jpg|Thousand Islands Bridge

File:大桥 - panoramio (4).jpg|Thousand Islands Bridge from river

File:Thousand Islands Bridge plaque.jpg|The international boundary plaque on the bridge

File:Thousand Islands Bridge July 2015 002.jpg|Portion of ON-137 on Hill Island

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See also

  • List of bridges in Canada
  • List of crossings of the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes
  • List of international bridges in North America
  • Boldt Castle (landmark owned by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority)
  • Dewolf Point State Park
  • Sewells Road Bridge
  • Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge
  • Ambassador Bridge
  • Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority

References

  • Thousand Islands Bridge Authority
  • Aerial photos of the Thousand Island Bridge System
  • Ian Coristine's Thousand Islands Canadian Span & Area Gallery
  • Tim Kocher's Riverview Photography of Ships Navigating Under the American Span & Gallery
  • CBC Digital Archives: Recording of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's address at the opening of the Thousand Islands Bridge