The Bear Mountain State Parkway (also known as the Bear Mountain Parkway) is a

parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...

located in northern

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, in the United States. It is an incomplete highway, with a 3.85-mile (6.20 km) western section and a 0.73-mile (1.17 km) eastern section; both sections comprise New York State Route 987H (NY 987H), the unsigned reference route assigned to the road by the

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...

(NYSDOT). Crompond Road (

U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massa ...

(US 202) and NY 35) provides a connection between the two sections. Collectively, the parkway extends from an intersection with US 6, US 9, and US 202 southeast of the

Bear Mountain Bridge The Bear Mountain Bridge, ceremonially named the Purple Heart Veterans Memorial Bridge, is a toll suspension bridge in New York State. It carries US 6 and US 202 across the Hudson River between Bear Mountain State Park in Orange Co ...

to an interchange with the

Taconic State Parkway The Taconic State Parkway (often called the Taconic or the TSP and known administratively as New York State Route 987G or NY 987G) is a Parkways in New York State, parkway between Kensico Dam and Chatham (town), New York, Chatham, the ...

in Yorktown. The parkway was built in 1932 but, unlike most other parkways in Westchester County, it has barely been constructed upon since. The initial reason for the Bear Mountain Parkway was to connect the Taconic State Parkway (or then, the Bronx River Parkway Extension) to the Bear Mountain Bridge. The Tappan Zee Bridge became a more popular

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

crossing following its construction, and consequently, the Bear Mountain Parkway was never finished.

Route description

The parkway begins at an intersection with US 6, US 9 and US 202 south of Annsville Creek in

Peekskill Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fr ...

and proceeds eastward through the north side of Peekskill as a two-lane undivided roadway. During its first mile, the parkway intersects a street at-grade and connects to Highland Avenue by way of an interchange before widening to three divided lanes (two westbound, one eastbound) at an interchange with North Division Street. The parkway intersects another street at-grade prior to entering Cortlandt. Bear Mountain Pkwy eb (3), April 2022

In Cortlandt, the parkway meets US 6 at an interchange and becomes a two lane undivided roadway again and meets several surface roads ahead of an intersection with US 202 and NY 35. Here, the Bear Mountain Parkway merges with the two-lane US 202 and NY 35, creating a physical but not official

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

extending eastward into neighboring Yorktown. Roughly one mile from the town line, the parkway separates from US 202 and NY 35 and progresses to the northeast as a four-lane undivided roadway. After a short distance, the parkway becomes separated by a median prior to merging with the southbound

. The northbound Taconic Parkway is accessed by way of US 202 and NY 35. NY 987H, the internal

NYSDOT The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, Rail transport, railroads, mass transit systems ...

designation for the parkway, terminates at both ends of the physical overlap with US 202 and NY 35 and applies only to the segments of the road separate from US 202 and NY 35. The parkway was designated but not signed as NY 821 prior to the creation of the current reference route system.

History

Originally proposed by

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

, the Bear Mountain State Parkway was built between 1929 and 1932 by the Westchester County Parks Commission as part of the

Bronx River Parkway The Bronx River Parkway (sometimes abbreviated as the Bronx Parkway) is a long parkway in downstate New York in the United States. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Avenue ...

's extension into northern

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

. It was intended to provide a quick, scenic trip from the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

to the

and Harriman State Park. In 1941, the Taconic State Park Commission assumed control of the Bronx River extension. The commission subsequently combined the north–south portion of the extension with the then-Eastern State Parkway to create the

. The east–west section of the extension between the Taconic Parkway and Annsville was renamed the Bear Mountain State Parkway. At the time of the parkway's construction, the Bear Mountain Bridge was an extremely important crossing of the

for Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Orange County residents. The construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge and the traffic issues caused by the two-lane roads descending to the Bear Mountain Bridge have diminished the bridge's popularity since then, and consequently, the Bear Mountain Parkway was never finished. In 2000, there was an initiative to complete the final missing piece of the Bear Mountain Parkway, since all of the right of way has already been acquired. However, this never came to fruition.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{NYSR external links, alps=bear, termini=bear_mtn
Bear Mountain State Parkway at nycroads.com
Parkways in New York (state) Yorktown, New York Transportation in Westchester County, New York Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links