| The BPC advertised for bids on the Valhalla Bridge construction in July 1924. Seven bids were received. The low bid of $119,975 was submitted by the Philipsburg Construction Company of Yonkers. Holleran endorsed the bidder after investigating the company and learning that it had a strong financial base and had successfully completed bigger projects. Holleran’s praise for the company was short-lived. By the end of the year, he reported that the contractor was making disappointing progress, and he noted that he had little confidence that the situation would improve. Company representatives attempted to explain the slow progress, but the BPC warned them that the commission would cancel the contract and take over the project if their work did not improve markedly. BPC records did not indicate whether it took action against the company. The bridge was finally completed in August 1925.(239) The Challenge at ScarsdaleConstructing the parkway drive through the Scarsdale area presented challenging difficulties for the BPC due to the narrow right-of-way and restrictive terrain near the Scarsdale railroad station. The Bronx River and a picturesque lake were located immediately west of Scarsdale Station. As a result, there was little space for the roadbed, let alone for the bridge that would be required to carry the drive over the river, lake, and railroad. The commissioners deliberated for years over an appropriate road alignment and bridge configuration. They personally visited the area on numerous occasions in order to work out the most appropriate solution for the BRPR. The first design for a bridge over the Bronx River and Scarsdale Lake was presented by Carrere and Hastings in 1917. The BPC postponed consideration of the proposal pending additional inspection of the roadway layout. No mention was ever again made of the Carrere and Hastings design. The BPC focused its attention on developing an appropriate road alignment for the area. The commission considered two alternatives for the alignment from Harney Road through Scarsdale and north to Ardsley Road. In the first plan, which was suggested by the commissioners at an earlier inspection, the northbound drive crossed the river south of Popham Road and reconnected with the southbound drive and passed under Ardsley Road and up the west side of the river. The parkway drive would then cross the river, the lake, and the railroad and run along the east side of the parkway. Downer’s alternate scheme provided separate one-way drives from south of Harney road to the rock cliff about one-half mile north of Scarsdale Station. This scheme would require two bridges. The northbound drive would run on the easterly side of the river, parallel to but separate from Garth Road and the access road to Scarsdale Station. The northbound lanes would cross the railroad immediately north of the station. The southbound lanes would be carried over the river and railroad at the rock cliff north of the station, where the two roadways would rejoin. The commissioners discussed both plans on a site visit in July and both alternatives were illustrated in Merkel’s 1918 landscape development maps.(240) The BPC weighed the merits of the two treatments until December 1919, when the commission formally adopted its original scheme for carrying the parkway drive under Ardsley Road, and up the west side of the Bronx River and Scarsdale Lake to Crane Road.(241) |
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| (239)Bronx
Parkway Commission, Minutes, July 1, 1924, 105-112; July 29, 1924, 125-128;
December 16, 1924, 182-185; January 6, 1925, 1-5; "Bronx River Parkway
Open Its Full Length," New York Times, August 15, 1925. |
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