1959, Moses formally asked the United States Army Corps of Engineers for permission to close the existing Flushing River drawbridge permanently. The drawbridge would then be upgraded to Interstate standards, and a second, fixed span would be built adjacent to the drawbridge. Several boat operators initially opposed the plans—the bridges would be above mean high water, shorter than some of the vessels that used the creek—but they eventually withdrew their opposition. Flushing Meadows Park was subsequently selected to host the 1964 New York World's Fair. In advance of the World's Fair, city officials announced in early 1960 that they would upgrade the Whitestone Parkway and extend the Van Wyck Expressway northward to the Whitestone Expressway. City officials approved a $10 million (equivalent to $ in ) project to upgrade the Whitestone Parkway in May 1960, and work on the parkway began near Northern Boulevard in September 1961. Contracts for the upgrade were awarded in September 1962. The portion of the Hutchinson River Parkway south of Bruckner Boulevard and all of the Whitestone Parkway were converted to Interstate standards. The Whitestone Parkway was subsequently renamed the Whitestone Expressway, and the aforementioned segment of the Hutchinson River Parkway was renamed the Hutchinson River Expressway. The new four-lane bridges over the Flushing River opened in June 1963; it temporarily carried two lanes in each direction until the old drawbridge was upgraded. The Whitestone Expressway upgrade was completed on December 12, 1963. The New York City Planning Commission approved the extension of the Van Wyck Expressway in April 1960. At the time, that project was planned to cost $3.48 million. Work on the Van Wyck Expressway Extension, as it was originally known, began in late 1961. The extension opened on December 30, 1963, although the Long Island Expressway and Jewel Avenue interchanges were not yet completed at the time. The opening of the Jewel Avenue interchange had been delayed by six weeks after a major steel contractor had filed for bankruptcy during the project. Interstate Highway As early as 1961, The New York Times had reported that the Whitestone Expressway was to be known as Interstate 678. City traffic commissioner Henry A. Barnes subsequently claimed that Moses had proposed the I-678 designation unilaterally. The Whitestone and Hutchinson River expressways were designated as I-678 . The I-678 designation was extended southward over the Van Wyck Expressway to JFK Airport on January 1, 1970. Although it