[Shady]

...and who is the numbnut who decided to build a bridge over the widest part of the river (1956)? AND THEN REPLACE IT! (2016)

[DuncanWaring]

...who is the numbnut who decided to build a bridge over the widest part of the river...

Someone with a brother-in-law who owned a bridge-construction business.

[SamAdams76]

It might be the widest part of the river but it is also one of the shallowest parts of the river. This is the reason they built the bridge there. From an engineering standpoint, it was easier to construct.

I am in that area frequently and I can only imagine the disruption this is causing on I-287 and surrounding roadways. Good thing I won't be anywhere near there today.

The construction site is something to see. Dozens of cranes involved.

[Cobra64]

Apparently it had to do with ingress/egress logistics (towns) on both sides of the Hudson.

[oh8eleven]

...and who is the numbnut who decided to build a bridge over the widest part of the river (1956)? AND THEN REPLACE IT! (2016)
From Wikepedia:

"The site of the bridge, at the Hudson River's second-widest point, added to construction costs.
The site was chosen to be as close as possible to New York City, while staying out of the 25-mile (40 km) range
of the Port Authority's influence, thus ensuring that revenue from collected tolls would go to the newly created
New York State Thruway Authority, and not the Port Authority."

Politics ... go figure.

[Stentor]

...and who is the numbnut who decided to build a bridge over the widest part of the river (1956)? AND THEN REPLACE IT! (2016)

It was this guy named Van Winkle.

[Haiku Guy]

New York wanted to build a replacement bridge at a much narrower point a few miles downstream. But it was to have been a single span and it would have cost much, much more than this replacement project.

Putting the new bridge here was, by far, the least expensive option.