Parkways in New York

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Bronx River Pkwy Shield.svg Grand Central Pkwy Shield free.svg Wantagh Pkwy Shield.svg Palisades Interstate Pkwy.svg
Standard parkway markers in New York
Highway names
Interstates Interstate X (I-X)
US Highways U.S. Route X (US X)
State New York State Route X (NY X)
System links
Sign informing truckers it is illegal to use a parkway in New York City. Truckersuseexpwysnotpkwys.jpg
Sign informing truckers it is illegal to use a parkway in New York City.

Most parkways in the US state of New York are part of a statewide parkway system owned by several public and private agencies but mostly maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). A handful of other roads in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island are also known as parkways but are not part of the state system. The roads of the state parkway system were among the first expressways to be constructed. [1] These highways were not divided and allowed no driveway cuts, but did have intersections for some of the streets they crossed. A small section of the privately financed Long Island Motor Parkway was the first expressway to begin operation as a toll road [2] and the first highway to use bridges and overpasses to eliminate intersections. [3]

Contents

The individual parkways vary widely in composition. Some, such as the Sprain Brook Parkway, are functionally equivalent to a freeway; others, like Seven Lakes Drive, are two-lane undivided roads. Most parkways are located in downstate New York, where the state parkway system originated in the early 20th century.

State parkways

The state's parkway system originally began as a series of then-high-speed (25 miles per hour or 40 kilometres per hour) four-lane roads that were created to provide a scenic way into, out of, and around New York City. The first section of this system opened in 1908. Most of the early roads have been replaced and redesigned to address higher speed requirements and to increase capacity. In later sections north of New York City, the roadways were typically divided by a wide landscaped median and provided service areas along the way that offered fuel and restrooms. [4] During the 1930s, urban planner Robert Moses developed a system of parkways in the New York City area. [5]

Many of these parkways were built by regional agencies such as the Long Island State Park Commission (LISPC), New York City Parks Department, Taconic State Park Commission (TSPC), Westchester County Parks Commission (WCPC), and Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC). Most are now maintained, if not owned, by NYSDOT outside New York City and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) within New York City.

Today, the state parkways are for the most part equivalent to expressways and freeways built in other parts of the country, except for a few oddities. First, because many of these roads were either designed before civil engineers had experience building roads for automobile use or widened in response to increasing traffic, many New York parkways lack shoulders. Second, because designers focused more on making routes scenic rather than efficient, the parkways are meandering, often built to follow a river, and so contain many turns. Finally, because most use low, decorative stone-arch overpasses that would trap trucks, commercial vehicles, trucks and tractor trailers are banned from parkways. [6] In Manhattan, this has led to nearly all trucks being forced onto local streets as the island has only one short Interstate (the Trans-Manhattan Expressway) passing through Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan.

List of parkways

ParkwayOpenedRegionFromToOwner [7] Maintained by [7]
Bay Parkway 1892 as 22nd Avenue New York CityBrooklynBrooklynNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT
Bay Parkway N/ALong IslandJones Beach State ParkJones Beach State Park NYS OPRHP NYSDOT
Bear Mountain Pkwy Shield.svg Bear Mountain State Parkway 1932Hudson ValleyPeekskillCortlandtNYSDOTNYSDOT
Belt Pkwy Shield free.svg Belt Parkway 1941New York CityBrooklynQueensNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Bethpage Pkwy Shield.svg Bethpage State Parkway 1936 [8] Long IslandMassapequaBethpage State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Bronx River Pkwy Shield free.svg Bronx River Parkway 1908Hudson ValleyThe BronxNorth CastleNYCDOT/Westchester CountyNYCDOT/Westchester County
Cross County Pkwy Shield.svg Cross County Parkway 1947Hudson ValleyYonkersEastchesterNYSDOTNYSDOT
Cross Island Pkwy Shield free.svg Cross Island Parkway 1940New York CityQueensQueensNYCDOTNYCDOT
Eastern Parkway 1874New York CityBrooklynBrooklynNYCDOTNYCDOT
FDR Drive Shield free.svg Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive 1955New York CityLower ManhattanUpper ManhattanNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Grand Central Pkwy Shield free.svg Grand Central Parkway 1936New York CityQueensNew York City lineNYSDOTNYSDOT
Harlem River Drive Shield free.svg Harlem River Drive 1964New York CityUpper ManhattanUpper ManhattanNYSDOTNYSDOT
Heckscher Pkwy Shield.svg Heckscher State Parkway 1959 [9] Long IslandWest IslipHeckscher State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Henry Hudson Pkwy Shield free.svg Henry Hudson Parkway 1937New York CityManhattanNew York City lineNYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJ NYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJ
Hutchinson River Pkwy Shield free.svg Hutchinson River Parkway 1928Hudson ValleyThe BronxConnecticut state lineNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Jackie Robinson Pkwy Shield free.svg Jackie Robinson Parkway 1935New York CityBrooklynQueensNYCDOTNYSDOT
Korean War Veterans Pkwy Shield.svg Korean War Veterans Parkway 1972New York CityStaten IslandStaten IslandNYSDOTNYSDOT
Lake Ontario State Pkwy Shield.svg Lake Ontario State Parkway Western New YorkCarltonRochesterNYSDOT/NYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Little Neck Parkway New York CityQueensQueens
Lake Welch Pkwy Shield.svg Lake Welch Parkway 1971 [10] Hudson ValleyHarriman State ParkHarriman State ParkPIPCNYSDOT
Long Mountain Parkway Hudson ValleyHarriman State ParkBear Mountain State ParkNYSDOTNYSDOT
Loop Pkwy Shield.svg Loop Parkway 1934 [11] Long IslandLido BeachJones Beach State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Meadowbrook Pkwy Shield.svg Meadowbrook State Parkway 1934 [11] Long IslandJones Beach State ParkWestburyNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Mosholu Pkwy Shield.svg Mosholu Parkway 1937New York CityBronx ParkVan Cortlandt ParkNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Niagara Scenic Pkwy Shield.svg Niagara Scenic Parkway Western New YorkNiagara FallsPorterNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Northern Pkwy Shield.svg Northern State Parkway 1931Long IslandNew York City lineHauppaugeNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Ocean Parkway New York CityBrooklynBrooklyn
Ocean Pkwy Shield.svg Ocean Parkway Long IslandJones Beach State ParkCaptree State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Palisades Interstate Pkwy.svg Palisades Interstate Parkway 1958 [12] Hudson ValleyFort Lee, NJBear Mountain State ParkPIPCNYSDOT/NJDOT
Pelham Pkwy Shield.svg Pelham Parkway 1911 [13] New York CityThe BronxPelham Bay ParkNYCDOTNYCDOT
Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway 1969 [14] AdirondacksLake GeorgeProspect Mountain NYSDEC NYSDEC
Robert Moses Cswy Shield.svg Robert Moses Causeway Long IslandRobert Moses State ParkWest IslipNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Rockaway Parkway New York CityBrooklynBrooklyn
Sagtikos Pkwy Shield.svg Sagtikos State Parkway 1952 [15] Long IslandWest IslipCommackNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Saw Mill Pkwy Shield.svg Saw Mill River Parkway 1954Hudson ValleyNew York City lineBedfordNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Seven Lakes Drive Shield.svg Seven Lakes Drive Hudson ValleySloatsburgBear Mountain State ParkPIPCNYSDOT
Southern Pkwy Shield.svg Southern State Parkway 1949Long IslandValley StreamWest IslipNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Sprain Brook Pkwy Shield.svg Sprain Brook Parkway 1961 [16] Hudson ValleyYonkersHawthorneNYSDOTNYSDOT
Sunken Meadow Pkwy Shield.svg Sunken Meadow State Parkway 1957 [17] Long IslandCommackSunken Meadow State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Taconic State Pkwy Shield.svg Taconic State Parkway 1925Hudson ValleyNorth CastleEast ChathamNYSDOTNYSDOT
Wantagh Pkwy Shield.svg Wantagh State Parkway 1929Long IslandJones Beach State ParkWestburyNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway 1935 [18] AdirondacksWilmingtonWhiteface MountainNYSDECNYSDEC

Other parkways

Some regions of New York have parkways that are not owned or maintained by a state agency. Westchester County, for example, contains some highways that were originally part of the TSPC and WCPC, while Suffolk County has preserved a section of the former Long Island Motor Parkway (LIMP) for current driving and built their own roads on land originally reserved for the LISPC. The surviving remnant of the LIMP in western Suffolk County, named the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, became a surface road that is no longer an expressway nor off limits to commercial vehicles.

List of parkways

ParkwayOpenedRegionFromToOwnerMaintained by
Arden Valley Road.svg Arden Valley Road 1922Hudson ValleyHarriman State ParkHarriman State ParkPIPCPIPC
Central Westchester Parkway Hudson ValleyWhite PlainsWhite PlainsWestchester CountyWestchester County
Farragut ParkwayHudson ValleyHastings-on-HudsonHastings-on-HudsonWestchester CountyWestchester County
Suffolk County Route 75 NY.svg Fire Island Beach Road Long IslandFire IslandFire IslandSuffolk CountySuffolk County
Memorial Parkway Mohawk ValleyGenesee Street, UticaAlbany Street, UticaCity of UticaCity of Utica
Playland Parkway 1929 [19] Hudson ValleyHarrisonPlaylandWestchester CountyWestchester County
Tiorati Brook Road.svg Tiorati Brook Road Hudson ValleyHarriman State ParkBear Mountain State ParkPIPCPIPC
Suffolk County Route 67 NY.svg Vanderbilt Motor Parkway Long IslandMelvilleLake RonkonkomaSuffolk CountySuffolk County
Suffolk County Route 46 NY.svg William Floyd Parkway Long IslandFire IslandRocky PointSuffolk CountySuffolk County

References

  1. nycroads.com Bronx River Parkway
  2. Sam Berlinner's Long Island Motor Parkway page; Map of Toll Booths on Long Island Motor Parkway
  3. nycroads.com Long Island Motor Parkway
  4. nycroads.com Long Island Parkway System History
  5. Mauch, C.; Zeller, T. (2008). The World Beyond the Windshield: Roads and Landscapes in the United States and Europe. Ohio University Press. p. 63. ISBN   978-0-8214-1767-6 . Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  6. New York State Department of Transportation - Got Stuck?
  7. 1 2 New York State Department of Transportation (January 2012). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State (PDF). Retrieved May 26, 2012.
  8. "New Highway Across Long Island To Link North and South Shores". The New York Times. November 15, 1936. p. N1.
  9. "L.I. Parkway to Open". The New York Times. November 1, 1962. p. 45.
  10. "Parkway Now Open". The Evening News. Newburgh, NY. June 28, 1971. p. 1B. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  11. 1 2 "New Local Roads Soon; Meadowbrook Open for Traffic to Beaches". The New York Times. June 2, 1935. p. XX12.
  12. "Palisades Route Will Open Today". The New York Times . August 28, 1958.
  13. "History of the Pelham Parkway". The New York Institute of Special Education. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  14. Brooks, Pamela A. (June 4, 2007). "Missing veterans honored on mountaintop". The Post-Star . Glens Falls, NY . Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  15. "Two Main Long Island Parkways to Be Linked at East Ends Today". The New York Times . September 29, 1952. p. 25. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  16. "Parkway Section at Yonkers Opens". The New York Times. December 24, 1963. p. 19.
  17. "L.I. Parkway Link Will Open Today; New Spur Connects Shore and Northern State Parkway". The New York Times. April 1, 1957. p. 27.
  18. "Road Up Whiteface Opened To Traffic". The New York Times. July 21, 1935. p. 3.
  19. Panetta, Roger (2006). Westchester: The American Suburb. Fordham University Press. p. 53. ISBN   9780823225941.