Parkways in New York explained

Caption:Standard parkway markers in New York
Interstate:Interstate X (I-X)
Us:U.S. Route X (US X)
Statehwy:New York State Route X (NY X)
Links:NY

The majority of 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]

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. The majority of 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 (25mph) 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

ParkwayOpenedRegionFromToOwnerMaintained by
Bay Parkway1892 as 22nd AvenueNew York CityBrooklynBrooklynNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT
Bay ParkwayN/ALong IslandJones Beach State ParkJones Beach State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Bear Mountain State Parkway1932Hudson ValleyPeekskillCortlandtNYSDOTNYSDOT
Belt Parkway1941New York CityBrooklynQueensNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Bethpage State Parkway1936[7] Long IslandMassapequaBethpage State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Bronx River Parkway1908Hudson ValleyThe BronxNorth CastleNYCDOT/Westchester CountyNYCDOT/Westchester County
Cross County Parkway1947Hudson ValleyYonkersEastchesterNYSDOTNYSDOT
Cross Island Parkway1940New York CityQueensQueensNYCDOTNYCDOT
Eastern Parkway1874New York CityBrooklynBrooklynNYCDOTNYCDOT
Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive1955New York CityLower ManhattanUpper ManhattanNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Grand Central Parkway1936New York CityQueensNew York City lineNYSDOTNYSDOT
Harlem River Drive1964New York CityUpper ManhattanUpper ManhattanNYSDOTNYSDOT
Heckscher State Parkway1959[8] Long IslandWest IslipHeckscher State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Henry Hudson Parkway1937New York CityManhattanNew York City lineNYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJNYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJ
Hutchinson River Parkway1928Hudson ValleyThe BronxConnecticut state lineNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Jackie Robinson Parkway1935New York CityBrooklynQueensNYCDOTNYSDOT
Korean War Veterans Parkway1972New York CityStaten IslandStaten IslandNYSDOTNYSDOT
Lake Ontario State ParkwayWestern New YorkCarltonRochesterNYSDOT/NYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Little Neck ParkwayNew York CityQueensQueens
Lake Welch Parkway1971[9] Hudson ValleyHarriman State ParkHarriman State ParkPIPCNYSDOT
Long Mountain ParkwayHudson ValleyHarriman State ParkBear Mountain State ParkNYSDOTNYSDOT
Loop Parkway1934[10] Long IslandLido BeachJones Beach State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Meadowbrook State Parkway1934Long IslandJones Beach State ParkWestburyNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Mosholu Parkway1937New York CityBronx ParkVan Cortlandt ParkNYSDOT/NYCDOTNYSDOT/NYCDOT
Niagara Scenic ParkwayWestern New YorkNiagara FallsPorterNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Northern State Parkway1931Long IslandNew York City lineHauppaugeNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Ocean ParkwayNew York CityBrooklynBrooklyn
Ocean ParkwayLong IslandJones Beach State ParkCaptree State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Palisades Interstate Parkway1958[11] Hudson ValleyFort Lee, NJBear Mountain State ParkPIPCNYSDOT/NJDOT
Pelham Parkway1911[12] New York CityThe BronxPelham Bay ParkNYCDOTNYCDOT
Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway1969[13] AdirondacksLake GeorgeProspect MountainNYSDECNYSDEC
Robert Moses CausewayLong IslandRobert Moses State ParkWest IslipNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Rockaway ParkwayNew York CityBrooklynBrooklyn
Sagtikos State Parkway1952[14] Long IslandWest IslipCommackNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Saw Mill River Parkway1954Hudson ValleyNew York City lineBedfordNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Seven Lakes DriveHudson ValleySloatsburgBear Mountain State ParkPIPCNYSDOT
Southern State Parkway1949Long IslandValley StreamWest IslipNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Sprain Brook Parkway1961[15] Hudson ValleyYonkersHawthorneNYSDOTNYSDOT
Sunken Meadow State Parkway1957[16] Long IslandCommackSunken Meadow State ParkNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Taconic State Parkway1925Hudson ValleyNorth CastleEast ChathamNYSDOTNYSDOT
Wantagh State Parkway1929Long IslandJones Beach State ParkWestburyNYS OPRHPNYSDOT
Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway1935[17] 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 Road1922Hudson ValleyHarriman State ParkHarriman State ParkPIPCPIPC
Central Westchester ParkwayHudson ValleyWhite PlainsWhite PlainsWestchester CountyWestchester County
Farragut ParkwayHudson ValleyHastings-on-HudsonHastings-on-HudsonWestchester CountyWestchester County
Fire Island Beach RoadLong IslandFire IslandFire IslandSuffolk CountySuffolk County
Memorial ParkwayMohawk ValleyGenesee Street, UticaAlbany Street, UticaCity of UticaCity of Utica
Playland Parkway1929[18] Hudson ValleyHarrisonPlaylandWestchester CountyWestchester County
Tiorati Brook RoadHudson ValleyHarriman State ParkBear Mountain State ParkPIPCPIPC
Vanderbilt Motor ParkwayLong IslandMelvilleLake RonkonkomaSuffolk CountySuffolk County
William Floyd ParkwayLong IslandFire IslandRocky PointSuffolk CountySuffolk County

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20060208041755/http://www.nycroads.com/roads/bronx-river/ nycroads.com Bronx River Parkway
  2. http://sbiii.com/limppix/limpgate.gif Sam Berlinner's Long Island Motor Parkway page; Map of Toll Booths on Long Island Motor Parkway
  3. http://www.nycroads.com/history/motor/ nycroads.com Long Island Motor Parkway
  4. http://www.nycroads.com/history/parkway/ nycroads.com Long Island Parkway System History
  5. Book: Mauch . C. . Zeller . T. . The World Beyond the Windshield: Roads and Landscapes in the United States and Europe . Ohio University Press . 2008 . 978-0-8214-1767-6 . 2018-03-11 . 63.
  6. https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/osss/repository/NYCDOT%20NYSDOT%20Parkways%20Brochure%20October%202009.pdf New York State Department of Transportation - Got Stuck?
  7. News: New Highway Across Long Island To Link North and South Shores . The New York Times . November 15, 1936 . N1.
  8. News: L.I. Parkway to Open . The New York Times . November 1, 1962 . 45.
  9. News: Parkway Now Open . The Evening News . Newburgh, NY . 1B . June 28, 1971 . June 12, 2013.
  10. News: New Local Roads Soon; Meadowbrook Open for Traffic to Beaches . The New York Times . June 2, 1935 . XX12.
  11. News: Palisades Route Will Open Today . . August 28, 1958.
  12. News: November 13, 2018. History of the Pelham Parkway. The New York Institute of Special Education.
  13. News: Missing veterans honored on mountaintop . . . Pamela A. . Brooks . June 4, 2007. March 18, 2010.
  14. News: Two Main Long Island Parkways to Be Linked at East Ends Today . . September 29, 1952 . 25 . June 12, 2013.
  15. News: Parkway Section at Yonkers Opens. The New York Times. December 24, 1963. 19.
  16. News: L.I. Parkway Link Will Open Today; New Spur Connects Shore and Northern State Parkway . The New York Times . April 1, 1957 . 27.
  17. News: Road Up Whiteface Opened To Traffic . The New York Times . July 21, 1935 . 3.
  18. Book: Panetta, Roger. Westchester: The American Suburb. 2006. Fordham University Press. 9780823225941. 53.