The Rip Turns 50 Please be patient while pictures load.
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To accommodate more than one lane of traffic at a time and toll in only one directions, the toll booths at the Rip were rebuilt in the late 1960's.  The new plaza also allows bigger vehicles to pass through.  
   

In 1985 the Rip Van Winkle Bridge turned 50.  To commemorate the event, the Bridge Authority hosted a cruise and a dinner party, and set off fireworks in the night sky above the bridge on July 20.  Guests included current and former Bridge Authority Board members, elected
officials and state transportation officials. 

A cake with Rip Van Winkle's picture was presented by Commissioner Salvatore Crimi and Chairman John Stillman.  
In 1991, a new maintenance facility was built behind the administration building with the  same dutch-colonial architecture as the main building.  More than for just the sake of matching the administration building, the bridge buildings can be clearly seen from the historic site at Olana just across the river, so the maintenance building was built to be historically and aesthetically pleasing.  It was dedicated to Edward Burns and Aloysius Curran, original collectors at Rip who worked for the Bridge Authority for over 40 years each.  

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