The rebuilt section of the BRP in Yonkers and Mount Vernon reopened to traffic in February 1955. The final six months of the project were delayed by strikes, steel shortages, and other difficulties. Although the road reopened, work continued for three months on related projects such as grading the shoulders and installing lights, curbs, and signs. In 1957, a $180,134 landscaping contract was awarded to the Peckham Road Corporation to plant 4,000 trees and shrubs, develop lawns, and construct rustic wooden fences. The project was a response to numerous complaints from "woodland admirers" who had opposed the landscape destruction when construction began.(295)

Gilmore Clarke, who was by then in partnership with his old BPC colleague Holleran and the landscape architect Michael Rapuano, expressed considerable disappointment about the reconstruction project. When asked to review the new bridge designs, he noted that they were technically satisfactory and clearly completed by a competent designer. Nevertheless, he added, "There [was] a lowering of standards for the bridges at Yonkers Avenue and Oak Street in that the stone facing of the exposed wingwalls, piers, etc. has been omitted." He observed that it was

a little unfortunate that this was done because there [was] very little masonry involved and the extra cost would not have been appreciable. To have retained the masonry would have kept these two new structures in the character of the rest of the development.

Although it was too late to correct the situation, he noted that putting "sufficient pressure" on the state highway engineers might prevent similar problems in the future.(296)

In addition to straightening the roadway near New York City, the WCPC removed "some hazardous kinks" in the parkway drive between Woodland Place Viaduct in White Plains and Scarsdale in 1956. This section of road with its sharp dips and twists had long been famous for a "roller-coaster" effect that reportedly induced children to produce "shrieks of glee." Highway engineers had little sympathy for such giddy pleasures and reminded residents that modern safety standards demanded that they remove such vestiges of the parkway’s origins in the days of slow-speed horseless carriages. The new improvements would update the roadway so that motorists could safely travel at 40 miles per hour. The engineers acknowledged that even though the road had been modernized between New York City and Yonkers, it would be difficult to modify the drive to the same degree north of White Plains. It was possible, however, to improve speed and safety by fixing some of the humps and curves in the parkway drive. The Peckham Road Corporation won the $108,417 contract to realign the drive near the Woodland Place Viaduct. The project rechannelized a bend in the Bronx River immediately south of Woodland Place and replaced a half-mile section of curved roadway that skirted the bend with a 1,000' section of straight roadbed across the filled riverbed. The approaches to the Woodland Place Viaduct were also to be modernized with simple arcs and banked curves. Westchester County officials endorsed these "small changes" in the parkway, but some engineers disagreed with the wisdom of spending money for what they believed were "halfway improvements."(297)

(295)"Bronx Parkway Reopens Friday," New York Times, February 16, 1955; "Highway Link Reopened," New York Times, February 19, 1955; "Parkway to Get Trees," New York Times, August 13, 1957.
(296)Gilmore D. Clarke, letter to Colonel John Stilwell, September 13, 1949.
(297)"Highway Thrill Ending," New York Times, November 4, 1955; "Dips in Parkway to be Ironed Out," New York Times, February 10, 1956; "Old Road to Lose Kinks," New York Times, August 29, 1958.