This Day in History: 1932-07-28

With the opening of the connections to Route 4 in Fort Lee, the approaches to the George Washington Bridge were completed. The entire project cost $8,000,000 and was described as the largest road building project ever undertaken by the State of New Jersey. The State Highway Department described it as “a perfect example of utility and beauty”, and the Route 4 connection as “a masterpiece of engineering skill and design”. Particularly praised was the fact that much of the approach ways were depressed, that there were no left hand turns anywhere, and that a series of cleverly designed cloverleafs improved the flow of traffic. The twelve mile highway between Fort Lee and Paterson was expected to save between fifteen and twenty minutes of travel time for the motorist. Bridges over the Hackensack, Passaic, and Saddle Rivers and either underpasses or overpasses avoided intersections with intersecting roads along its entire route. A critic praised its “arrow like straightness” for “eliminating the possibility of accidents”. Present-day commuters will be glad to learn that the new highway eliminated the possibility of traffic congestion. (Bristow)