additional facilities were added in the early 1940s. Truss installation As early as June 1938, engineers observed oscillations in the Whitestone Bridge's deck. Concerns grew after the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Tacoma, Washington, collapsed during heavy winds in November 1940. It had employed an -deep girder system, much like the I-beam girders of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge. However, the Whitestone Bridge was shorter and wider than the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's deck was also thicker than that of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which was only thick to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's . Overall, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge was less prone to oscillation and critical failure, as it was not as flimsy as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. After performing a series of experiments on the bridge's design, Ammann concluded that additional measures to stiffen the Whitestone Bridge were unnecessary. A Princeton University professor separately created a model of the bridge, finding that the Whitestone Bridge's main span could still oscillate in as many as three segments. Even so, the public was scared by the fact that the two bridges were similar in design, and this led to a belief that the Whitestone Bridge might be unstable, as Moses later related. Shortly after the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, Moses announced that steel cable stays would be installed on the bridge's towers to reduce oscillation. To mitigate the risk of failure from high winds, eight stay cables, two on each side of both suspension towers, were proposed for installation. The stays were supposed to be completed in January 1941. Although $1 million was initially allocated for the bridge-stiffening project, construction was deferred due to material and labor shortages during World War II. Planning for the project resumed in September 1945 at the end of the war, and a low bidder for the project was announced that October. The project's primary goal was to reinforce the bridge with trusses, thus ensuring the bridge's stability. The four lanes of roadway traffic were widened to six lanes, with the two additional lanes replacing the pedestrian walkways on each side. On both sides of the deck, -high steel trusses were installed to weigh down and stiffen the bridge in an effort to reduce oscillation. The stiffening project was completed in 1947. The bridge was repainted in 1953. Increases in traffic In the late 1950s, the Whitestone Parkway and the portion of the Hutchinson River Parkway between the