Mayor John Lindsay proposed enacting tolls along the University Heights Bridge, as well as all other free bridges across the East and Harlem rivers, in 1971. The proposal failed in 1977 after the United States Congress moved to ban tolls on these bridges. The city and state were planning to restore or replace the bridge by the 1980s. A $1.25 billion bond issue, proposed in 1983, had provided $15 million for the bridge's rehabilitation. The Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing to designate the crossing as an official city landmark, which would mandate that any bridge replacement would have to conform with the original design. Manhattan Community Board 12 voted against the landmark designation and the city and state governments advised against designating the bridge as a landmark. Despite the opposition, on September 11, 1984, the bridge was designated a city landmark.