The Thousand Islands International Bridge (french: Pont des Mille-îles) is an American-maintained international bridge system over the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

connecting northern

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

with southeastern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. Constructed in 1937, with additions in 1959, the bridges span the Canada–US border in the middle of the

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...

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: # American mainland to

Wellesley Island Wellesley Island in Jefferson County, New York, United States is partially in the Town of Orleans and partially in the Town of Alexandria. History The island was named Wells Island but during his 1815 survey of the US-Canada border renamed by ...

(main span) # Wellesley Island to

Hill Island Hill Island is a Baffin Island offshore island located in the Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. The uninhabited island lies in Frobisher Bay, approximately southwest of Iqaluit. Bishop Island and Faris Island Faris Island (alternat ...

(international crossing) # Hill Island to Constance Island # Constance Island to Georgina Island # Georgina Island to Canadian mainland The bridges's southern end connects with

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

, and the northern end with

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...

via Highway 137. There is also an interchange with the Thousand Islands Parkway on the Ontario side. The actual international border bridge crossing is a set of two parallel bridges between

in the United States and

in Canada.

Administration

The bridge system is administered by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, a

New York State public benefit corporation New York state public-benefit corporations and authorities operate like quasi-private corporations, with boards of directors appointed by elected officials, overseeing both publicly operated and privately operated systems. Public-benefit nonprofit ...

, whose seven board members (Four Americans and three Canadians) are appointed by the

Jefferson County Board of Legislators Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

. The Authority also maintains and administers

Boldt Castle Boldt Castle is a major landmark and tourist attraction in the Thousand Islands region of the U.S. state of New York. Open to guests seasonally between mid-May and mid-October, it is located on Heart Island in the Saint Lawrence River. Heart I ...

. Tolls are paid only by cash,

E-ZPass E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agenci ...

, or Commuter Discount Fare Trip Tags, which are prepaid for either 16 trips (US$20.00) or 72 trips (US$32.00). The Bridge Authority is a member of the multi-state

consortium, and introduced electronic toll collection in June 2019. No other ETC transponders are currently offered or accepted, although the Bridge Authority offers sales of transponders of Florida's

SunPass SunPass is an electronic toll collection system within the state of Florida, United States. It was created in 1999 by the Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT's) Office of Toll Operations, operating now as a division of Florida's Turnp ...

for the convenience of Canadian travelers en route to Florida.

Border crossing

The Thousand Islands Border Crossing connects the towns of

Alexandria Bay, New York Alexandria Bay is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, within the town of Alexandria. It is located in the Thousand Islands region of northern New York. The population of the village was 1,078 at the 2010 United States Census. I ...

and

Ivy Lea, Ontario Leeds and the Thousand Islands is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. The township is located along the Saint Lawrence River, and extends north into rural hamlets and villages ...

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 A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

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 Heart Island is an island in the Town of Alexandria within the Saint Lawrence River, along the northern border of the U.S. state of New York, in Jefferson County. The island is one of the most prominent within the Thousand Islands archipelago ...

and at

Cape Vincent, NY Cape Vincent is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 2,777 at the 2010 census. The town is in the northwestern part of the county. In the town is a village also called Cape Vincent. Both town and village are ...

, and Canada has seasonal vessel inspection stations at Rockport, Ontario and Gananoque, Ontario. Both

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and c ...

(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. Completed ten weeks ahead of schedule, 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 the Wake of Tacoma", pg. 59-60, . In its early years of its operation, around 150,000 vehicles crossed the bridge annually. Today, annual crossings exceed 2,000,000 vehicles.

Gallery

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: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

References

External links

Thousand Islands Bridge Authority

Ian Coristine's Thousand Islands Canadian Span & Area GalleryTim 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
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place = St. Lawrence River , bridge = Thousand Islands Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

, upstream signs = , downstream = Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge , downstream signs = Suspension bridges in New York (state) Suspension bridges in Canada Road bridges in Ontario Bridges completed in 1937 Canada–United States bridges Interstate 81 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Buildings and structures in Leeds and Grenville United Counties Thousand Islands Bridges over the Saint Lawrence River Road bridges in New York (state) Transport in Leeds and Grenville United Counties Tolled sections of Interstate Highways Toll bridges in New York (state) Toll bridges in Canada Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in the United States Open-spandrel deck arch bridges Truss bridges in the United States Truss bridges in Canada