Interstate 78 (I-78) is a part of the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
that runs from
Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In the US state of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, I-78 extends . The entirety of I-78 consists of the
Holland Tunnel, which crosses under the
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 ...
from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and ends at an exit rotary in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
. The tunnel and its approaches are maintained by the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...
(PANYNJ).
I-78 was planned to take a longer route when the Interstate System within New York City was originally proposed in the late 1950s. The proposed route of I-78 was to head east via the
Williamsburg Bridge to
John F. Kennedy International Airport and then north over the
Throgs Neck Bridge to
I-95 in
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 ...
. One unbuilt section of I-78, the Lower Manhattan Expressway, would have connected the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg and
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
s. Another unbuilt section, the Cross-Brooklyn and Bushwick Expressways, would have extended southeast across
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, connecting to what is now the
Nassau Expressway (
New York State Route 878 or NY 878). A third section would have connected the Nassau Expressway, at the southern edge of Queens near JFK Airport, to the southern end of what is now
I-295, in central Queens. Due to opposition from the communities along the expressways' routes, these sections of I-78 were never built, and I-78 does not connect to I-278 or to any of its other auxiliary routes.
Route description
The section of I-78 within New York is long according to the
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...
(FHWA),
although 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) considers I-78 to be long.
It consists exclusively of the
Holland Tunnel, which connects to I-78 in New Jersey. The Holland Tunnel, a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
,
was the world's longest underwater vehicular tunnel when it opened in 1927; it consists of two tubes, each of which carries two lanes of traffic in a single direction.
The entrance plaza to the westbound tunnel,
Freeman Plaza
The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Authorit ...
, is a rectangular block, bounded clockwise from the north by
Broome,
Varick, Watts, and
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
streets.
Four entrances feed into the tunnel from all corners of the block, including an entrance from
Canal Street, which intersects Hudson and Watts streets at the southwest corner of the plaza. The westbound portal is located south of Dominick Street, just north of where the four entrances merge.
The exit plaza, referred to the "Holland Tunnel Rotary", is in a square superblock that previously housed the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
's
St. John's Park Terminal, bounded clockwise from the north by Laight, Varick, Beach, and Hudson streets. Traffic leaves the tunnel at a portal at the southeast corner of Canal and Hudson streets, then heads southeast along the south line of Canal Street and south along the west line of Varick Street to the northeast corner of the plaza. From there, five exits, which are
numbered sequentially, split from the rotary. One exit goes to each corner of the superblock. A fifth exit, added in 2004, splits to Varick Street on the superblock's eastern side.
A
pedestrian overpass
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
crosses the entrance to the plaza and exit 5 at the northeast corner since the entrance from the tunnel cuts Laight Street.
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
street maps and USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
topographic map
In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...
s, accessed vi
ACME Mapper
/ref>
There are four auxiliary routes of I-78 in New York; none of these spurs connect with I-78 because parts of I-78, I-278, and I-478 were not built. I-478 is currently the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and approaches, connecting I-278 in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
with the Battery in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. It was once planned to continue north along the unbuilt Westway to I-78 at the Holland Tunnel; however, this project was later canceled. I-278, the only I-78 spur to leave New York, has a western terminus on Linden, New Jersey
Linden is a city in southeastern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, located about southwest of Manhattan and bordering Staten Island, a borough of New York City, across the Arthur Kill ...
, and passes northward and eastward through all five boroughs, with its eastern end at the Bruckner Interchange in 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 ...
. I-278 was planned to extend northwest to I-78 at Route 24 in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey
Springfield Township is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The township is located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. As of t ...
. I-678
Interstate 678 (I-678) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway that extends for through two boroughs of New York City. The route begins at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Jamaica Bay and travels north through Queens and ...
runs from JFK Airport in Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
north to the Bruckner Interchange. I-878, signed as part of NY 878, is a short east–west expressway crossing I-678 at JFK Airport, running only within Queens. It was originally planned as part of I-78, connecting to the Bushwick Expressway
Interstate 78 (I-78) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to New York City. In the US state of New York, I-78 extends . The entirety of I-78 consists of the Holland Tunnel ...
, I-278, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Lower Manhattan Expressway
Interstate 78 (I-78) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to New York City. In the US state of New York, I-78 extends . The entirety of I-78 consists of the Holland Tunnel ...
.[
*Note that I-95 is shown on the Hutchinson River Parkway north of the Bruckner Interchange, but the 1955 "Yellow Book" map shows the I-78 route on the Bruckner Expressway.] The original I-878 is now the segment of I-278 east of the split with NY 895; it connected I-278 with I-78, I-95, and I-678 at the Bruckner Interchange.
History
Existing segment
When the Interstate numbering was finalized in the late 1950s, the Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
–New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
route, I-78, was assigned to several proposed roads in New York City. It would leave the Holland Tunnel onto the Lower Manhattan Expressway
Interstate 78 (I-78) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to New York City. In the US state of New York, I-78 extends . The entirety of I-78 consists of the Holland Tunnel ...
, crossing the East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
on the Williamsburg Bridge and following the Bushwick Expressway
Interstate 78 (I-78) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to New York City. In the US state of New York, I-78 extends . The entirety of I-78 consists of the Holland Tunnel ...
across Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to near Idlewild Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...
(now JFK Airport). There it would follow the Nassau Expressway along the north boundary of the airport and turn north along the Clearview Expressway Clearview or clear view may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Clearview'' (album), the seventh studio album by the Finnish rock band Poets of the Fall
Companies
* Clearview AI, a facial recognition company
* Clearview Cinemas, a chain of movie thea ...
through Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, crossing the East River again on the Throgs Neck Bridge into 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 ...
. Finally, I-78 would split into two branches, one heading west along the Cross Bronx Expressway
The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of I-295 and U.S. Route 1 (US 1). The Cross Bronx begins ...
to the Bruckner Interchange and the other heading northwest along the Throgs Neck Expressway to the Bruckner Expressway near the south end of the New England Thruway. I-78 would also intersect with I-478 (Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
) in SoHo, Manhattan
SoHo, sometimes written Soho (South of Houston Street), is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its variet ...
; I-278
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
(Brooklyn–Queens Expressway
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...
; I-495 Interstate 495 (I-495) is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 95, listed from south to north:
* The Capital Beltway, a beltway around Washington, D.C., running through Virgini ...
(Long Island Expressway
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
) in Fresh Meadows, Queens; and I-95 (Cross Bronx and Bruckner Expressways), I-678
Interstate 678 (I-678) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway that extends for through two boroughs of New York City. The route begins at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Jamaica Bay and travels north through Queens and ...
( Bronx–Whitestone Bridge), and I-878 (Bruckner Expressway) in Throggs Neck, the Bronx.
Only two sections of I-78 in Queens and the Bronx were built. When the Throgs Neck Bridge and its approaches opened in early 1961, they were signed as I-78. The lack of expressway names on the signs, as specified by federal standards, caused confusion among drivers who knew the highways by their names. The Clearview Expressway was completed to its present extent in mid-1963, and a short eastbound-only piece of the Nassau Expressway opened in 1971. The unbuilt sections of the Lower Manhattan, Bushwick, and Clearview expressways were canceled by the New York state government in March 1971.
The route of part of the Clearview Expressway's unbuilt southern section later became the JFK Expressway, which connects JFK Airport with the Nassau Expressway, Conduit Avenue ( NY 27), and the Belt Parkway
The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as t ...
. The JFK Expressway was completed in 1991.
Canceled segments
Lower Manhattan Expressway
The Lower Manhattan Expressway, also known as LOMEX or the Canal Street Expressway, was a controversial plan for an expressway
Expressway may refer to:
* Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic.
* Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road.
*Expressway, the fictional s ...
through Lower Manhattan. The Lower Manhattan Expressway would have begun at the West Side Elevated Highway
The West Side Elevated Highway (West Side Highway or Miller Highway, named for Julius Miller, Manhattan borough president from 1922 to 1930) was an elevated section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) running along the Hudson River in the New ...
on the west side of Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, where it would have merged with I-78 at the eastern portal of the Holland Tunnel. From here, the LOMEX would have proceeded generally southeastward as a 10-lane elevated highway An elevated highway is a controlled-access highway that is raised above grade for its entire length. Elevation is usually constructed as viaducts, typically a long pier bridge. Technically, the entire highway is a single bridge.
Reason to const ...
, carrying I-78 over what became SoHo
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
and Little Italy. At Centre Street, near the eastern edge of Little Italy, the highway would have split into two branches that both led to bridges over the East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
on Manhattan's east side. The main branch would continue southeast as I-78 to the Williamsburg Bridge, while the other would head south to the Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
as I-478. The Manhattan Bridge Spur would have been located above Chrystie Street. The spur to the Williamsburg Bridge would have been mostly depressed or underground, running between Delancey and Broome streets and passing under the Chrystie Street Connection
The Chrystie Street Connection is a set of New York City Subway tunnels running the length of Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is one of the few track connections between lines of the former Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit ...
of the New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
. As part of the project, a third tube to the Holland Tunnel would have been built to provide sufficient capacity for the proposed expressway traffic.
The expressway was originally conceived by urban planner and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) chair 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 ...
in 1941. However, efforts to build the highway were delayed until November 1959, when Moses submitted the LOMEX plans for city approval. The New York City Planning Commission approved the expressway in February 1960, and the New York City Board of Estimate voted in favor of the expressway's routing that September. The cost of the plan approved by the Board of Estimate was $80 million (equivalent to $ in ) but later rose to $100 million (equivalent to $ in ). Estimates published in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1962 showed that the $100-million cost would have been covered by $90 million (equivalent to $ in ) from the federal government, $10 million (equivalent to $ in ) from the state of New York, and $220,000 (equivalent to $ in ) in city funds.
The expressway plan encountered logistical issues even before they had been fully approved. After the Planning Commission had approved the expressway proposal, the city moved to evict 2,000 families in 416 buildings along the expressway's route, as well as displace 804 businesses. However, residents started organizing protests against the relocation plan. In response, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr.
Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...
told the affected residents that the timeline for starting construction had not yet been finalized, and so they would not need to move for some time. Opposition also formed over the fact that the highway would create a "Chinese wall
A Chinese wall or ethical wall is an information barrier protocol within an organization designed to prevent exchange of information or communication that could lead to conflicts of interest. For example, a Chinese wall may be established to sepa ...
" separating the neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan. Members of the affected communities, led by community activist Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...
, formed groups to protest against LOMEX. Jacobs chaired the Joint Committee to Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which recruited such members as Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s.
She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...
, Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
, Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a wr ...
, Charles Abrams
Charles Abrams (September 20, 1901 – February 22, 1970) was a Polish-born American lawyer, writer, urbanist, and housing expert who created the New York City Housing and Development Administration in the 1960s. He was one of the first to use the ...
, and William H. Whyte
William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte Jr. (July 11, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American urbanist, sociologist, organizational analyst, journalist and people-watcher. He identified the elements that create vibrant public spaces within the city ...
. In his book about the dispute between Jacobs and Moses, the author Anthony Flint stated that newspapers such as ''The New York Times'' typically reported Moses's work favorably, while the newly created ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' covered community rallies and advocated against the expressway.[ Jacobs continued to fight the expressway throughout the rest of the decade, and she was locally seen as a hero for her opposition to the project.]
By 1961, Moses had initiated two large federal initiatives to demolish fourteen blocks along Broome Street
Broome Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan. It runs nearly the full width of Manhattan island, from Hudson Street in the west to Lewis Street in the east, near the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The street is interrupted in ...
in Little Italy and SoHo. Moses's plan, funded as "slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
" by Title I of the Housing Act of 1949, also called for multiple blocks to be razed and replaced with upscale highrises. The plan ultimately required 132 families to move out, as well as displaced 1,000 small businesses, who relocated to what is now Washington Square Village
Washington Square Village (WSV) is an apartment complex in a superblock in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. WSV was developed by Paul Tishman and Morton S. Wolf. To design the housing complex, the developer sele ...
.[ In April 1962, Wagner commenced the acquisition of property for the Lower Manhattan Expressway. After further issues with relocation arose in August 1962, Wagner delayed final action on the proposal until after that year's November general elections. A report on the relocation process was published on December 3 of that year. The report stated that the 1,972 families could possibly be relocated without much difficulty. Two days later, there was a tumultuous six-hour-long special executive session of the New York City Board of Estimate on the second floor of ]New York City Hall
New York City Hall is the Government of New York City, seat of New York City government, located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Park R ...
, where city officials voted unanimously to block the planned expressway. This served only as a temporary deterrent against the expressway plans, and, in May 1963, Moses announced a revised proposal.
A short section of the Williamsburg Bridge spur directly under Chrystie Street, with its southern edge aligned with the northern sidewalk of Broome Street, was built during this time. In December 1960, the New York state government started tendering bids to construct this segment. The low bid of about $1.02 million (equivalent to $ in ) was accepted on January 26, 1961, and the road was completed by January 1964. This piece of the highway had cost $941,000 (equivalent to $ in ) to construct. It was necessitated because, in case the expressway was ever completed, the tunnel segment would provide structural support to the Chrystie Street Connection. Ultimately, this segment of tunnel was never used since the expressway was later canceled.
The argument over the Lower Manhattan Expressway became a pivotal argument in the 1965 New York City mayoral election
The 1965 New York City mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 2, 1965, with Republican Congressman John Lindsay winning a close plurality victory over the Democratic candidate, New York City Comptroller Abraham Beame.
Lindsay received 4 ...
. Mayor Wagner supported the construction of the expressway and wanted for the highway to be completed by 1971. His opponent, John Lindsay, objected to the elevated highway plan; in July 1965, he filed a lawsuit to postpone any decisions on the expressway until after the election that November. The Port Authority, which operated the Holland Tunnel, also opposed the proposed link because it would put congestion back onto the Holland Tunnel, which had seen moderate traffic flows for the first time since its 1927 opening. Lindsay ultimately won the election and immediately began looking to modify the project's routing. The Regional Plan Association
The Regional Plan Association is an independent, not-for-profit regional planning organization, founded in 1922, that focuses on recommendations to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of a 31-county New York–New Jersey– ...
suggested that the city build the expressway underground or in an open cut, instead of an elevated highway. However, Moses opposed the construction of a depressed highway since the same number of buildings would have to be demolished compared to an elevated highway. Deputy Mayor Robert Price subsequently announced that it had stopped pursuing the Lower Manhattan Expressway in any form; however, the Lindsay administration itself was still conducting studies on a possible underground routing. After considerable disagreement with the Lindsay administration, Moses was removed from his position as the city's arterial-road planner in July 1966. Lindsay also commissioned private consultants to perform a study on the Lower Manhattan Expressway, and, in November 1966, they concluded that the expressway plan was not the optimal solution for Lower Manhattan congestion.
In January 1967, Lindsay and Governor Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
agreed to commission a study of the feasibility of an underground highway rather than an elevated highway. The engineering study was completed that March; it called for various sections to be built in tunnels and open cuts under Broome and Chrystie streets, with a short section west of Sixth Avenue on an elevated structure. The underground highway would have to pass underneath existing subway lines before rising on elevated ramps to connect with the Manhattan Bridge. There would only be two exits, located at the Manhattan Bridge and at Sixth Avenue; the Williamsburg Bridge spur had been dropped by this point. The plan failed to placate Lower Manhattan residents who had opposed the first two proposals since they had been promised that the entire highway would be located underground. Despite the persistent opposition, the federal and state governments allocated funding for the expressway in September 1967. Lindsay announced in April 1968 that he wanted to start construction on the updated Lower Manhattan Expressway as soon as possible. However, the tunnel proposal also encountered difficulties: in January 1969, a group of scientists stated that carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
levels around the tunnel would be dangerously high, and, the next month, several officials succeeded in delaying the expressway plans.
Bushwick Expressway
Although the Lower Manhattan Expressway caused the most controversy, the first I-78 segment to be canceled was the Bushwick Expressway, which would have linked the Williamsburg Bridge to the Nassau Expressway. The original route would have utilized Broadway, Bushwick Avenue
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...
, and the Conduit Boulevard/Avenue corridor. An alternate routing, proposed by the TBTA in the 1960s, would have traveled slightly farther north along Broadway, Flushing Avenue
Flushing Avenue is a street running through northern Brooklyn and western Queens, beginning at Nassau Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and ending at Grand Avenue in Maspeth. It divides the neighborhood of Williamsburg from Clinton Hill an ...
, or Meserole Street and Montrose Avenue, and Wyckoff Avenue, parallel to the Brooklyn–Queens border. This was the right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
of the Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
(LIRR)'s defunct Evergreen Branch
The Evergreen Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) that ran in Brooklyn and part of Queens in New York City. The line, at its fullest extent, ran between Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens. The line consisted of two ...
. The Bushwick Expressway would then run east along Force Tube Avenue and Conduit Avenue to the Nassau Expressway. Under this plan, an additional spur would have branched off at approximately Wyckoff and Flushing Avenues and run northwest along Vandervoort Avenue parallel to Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek, a long tributary of the East River, is an estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City. Channelization made it one of the most heavily-used bodies of water in the Port of N ...
. It would have crossed the creek into Long Island City and traveled west along either the Long Island Expressway or the LIRR Montauk Branch in order to connect with the Queens–Midtown Tunnel
The Queens–Midtown Tunnel (also sometimes called the Midtown Tunnel) is a vehicular tunnel under the East River in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens. The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes, each carrying two ...
, for which a third tube would have been constructed. The highway would have cut through the Williamsburg, Bushwick, and East New York neighborhoods of Brooklyn. The 1960s routing would have also bisected Greenpoint; Ridgewood, Queens; and Highland Park and the Cemetery of the Evergreens. The East New York segment was partially constructed from Atlantic Avenue to the Belt Parkway
The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as t ...
in the early 1940s, when Conduit Boulevard/Avenue was widened. The current grass median of the boulevard would have facilitated the expressway.
The Bushwick Expressway was proposed around 1954 and included in the Port Authority's ''Joint Study of Arterial Facilities'' in 1955. The Wyckoff Avenue route was proposed in the 1960s. At this time, the TBTA envisioned the main route as an eight-lane highway, while the Williamsburg Bridge and Midtown Tunnel spurs would support six lanes of traffic. As with LOMEX, residents along the Bushwick Expressway's route opposed the project because it would necessitate the destruction of residences and businesses in Brooklyn and Queens; the TBTA estimated that nearly 4,000 families would be displaced by the expressway. At the urging of Mayor John Lindsay, the Cross Brooklyn Expressway, which would connect to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and not provide a link in I-78, was substituted for the Bushwick Expressway in 1967 in order to reduce traffic into Manhattan[ and because it would reduce the displacement of residents and businesses.]
Cancelation of all I-78 expressways
While campaigning for reelection in 1969, Mayor Lindsay canceled plans for the Lower Manhattan and Cross Brooklyn expressways, citing lack of community support. Lindsay declared the Lower Manhattan Expressway to be "dead for all time", and the Board of Estimate officially voted to erase the proposed expressway from city maps in August. All three unbuilt expressways along the path of I-78 were deleted at the state level by Governor Rockefeller in March 1971.
Effective January 1, 1970, NYSDOT truncated the east end of I-78 to the east end of the Williamsburg Bridge at I-278 in Brooklyn. The Clearview and Throgs Neck
Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and east, Westchester Creek on ...
expressways, as well as the eastern part of the Cross Bronx Expressway, became I-295, and the Nassau Expressway became I-878 (now signed as NY 878), though it was still shown as I-78 on maps through the late 1970s. I-878 was also assigned to the unbuilt Cross Brooklyn Expressway, for a total of between the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and JFK Airport.[ I-878, the Nassau Expressway, was redesignated as a New York state route by 1991.]
Robert Moses had planned to build three other expressways through Manhattan, two of which were never constructed as planned. The Mid-Manhattan Expressway would have been an elevated or underground highway running along 30th Street. The Cross Harlem Expressway would have run at ground level at 125th Street. The Trans-Manhattan Expressway, the only one of Moses's planned Manhattan expressways to be constructed, connected the George Washington Bridge with Moses's Cross Bronx Expressway
The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of I-295 and U.S. Route 1 (US 1). The Cross Bronx begins ...
and was completed in 1962. The I-478 designation was later reassigned to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. This was part of a plan for another elevated highway called the Westway, which would have connected the Brooklyn–Battery, Holland, and Lincoln tunnels. The Westway project was officially abandoned in 1985 also due to community opposition.
A 2015 Gothamist
Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Ricketts, ...
article cites singer Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
as being partially responsible for the eventual cancelation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway. In 1963, Dylan was said to have written a song called "Listen, Robert Moses" that protested Moses's plans for a superhighway. Though experts were skeptical about the existence of the song and the New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
does not have any records containing the song, Jane Jacobs's son, Jim, confirmed that Dylan had written it and a copy of the lyrics was found in the Tuli Kupferberg collection of the Fales Library of New York University.
Exit list
The New York section of I-78 only consists of Holland Tunnel and its entrance and exit ramps. There are five eastbound exit ramps, which are numbered sequentially as traffic heads counterclockwise around the tunnel's exit plaza. The westbound entrance plaza is several blocks to the north and has direct entrances from Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
, Canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
, Watts, and Varick streets. While NYSDOT is transitioning to mileage-based numbers, there are no immediate plans to convert I-78's exit numbers.
See also
*Freeway and expressway revolts
Highway revolts (also freeway revolts, expressway revolts, or road protests) are organized protests against the planning or construction of highways, freeways, expressways, and other civil engineering projects that favor vehicles.
Many freeway r ...
Notes
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interstate 078 In New York
New York
78
Expressways in New York City
Transportation in Manhattan
History of transportation in New York City
*078
SoHo, Manhattan
Holland Tunnel