New York State Route 440 (NY 440) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

located entirely on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

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 ...

. The route acts as a connector between the two segments of New Jersey Route 440, running from the Staten Island community of Richmond Valley in the south to Port Richmond in the north. NY 440 is connected to the two New Jersey segments by the

Outerbridge Crossing The Outerbridge Crossing, also known as the Outerbridge, is a cantilever bridge that spans the Arthur Kill between Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York. It carries New York State Route 440 (NY 440) and New Jersey Rou ...

to the south and the

Bayonne Bridge Bayonne Bridge is an arch bridge spanning the Kill Van Kull and connecting Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island in New York City. It carries New York State Route 440 (NY 440) and New Jersey Route 440. It is the sixth-longes ...

to the north. It is one of several signed New York State routes that are not connected to any others in the state, and one of only two NYS routes ( NY 426 being the other) that is the middle section of another state's highway bearing the same number. Much of NY 440 is a

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

. From the

Korean War Veterans Parkway The Korean War Veterans Parkway is a parkway that traverses the South Shore of Staten Island, New York, in the United States. It begins at the Outerbridge Crossing toll plaza and runs from southwest to northeast to a merge with Drumgoole Road in t ...

Interstate 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 ...

(I-278), it is known as the West Shore Expressway. North of I-278, it is named the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway (also known as the Willowbrook Expressway). NY 440 is the southernmost state route in the state of New York.

Route description

NY 440 begins at the

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 * '' ...

–

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 ...

state line, mid-span on the east-west

over the

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of ...

in the Richmond Valley neighborhood of

. The four-lane bridge crosses east through Richmond Valley and over

Arthur Kill Road Arthur Kill Road is a major northeast-southwest artery along the South- West Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is long, and runs through the neighborhoods of Tottenville, Richmond Valley, Charleston, Rossville, Woodrow ...

. After entering Staten Island, NY 440 passes through a

toll barrier A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemente ...

for eastbound traffic entering the city. Immediately following the toll barrier is a ramp to Page Avenue, the eastbound exit 1. In the westbound direction, the ramp to Arthur Kill Road is exit 1. After Page Avenue, NY 440 enters a

partial cloverleaf interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

with the

(the KWVP, though often referred to as the Richmond Parkway, its name until 1997) and a nearby

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

. At exit 2 in the Pleasant Plains neighborhood, NY 440 exits the right-of-way it entered on, which becomes the KWVP, while NY 440 proceeds north as the co-signed West Shore Expressway. The West Shore Expressway continues north as a four-lane expressway, entering exit 3, a ramp to Woodrow Road going northbound. Crossing into the Rossville neighborhood, the expressway enters exit 3 southbound, connecting to Bloomingdale Road, and parallels a section of the

. Crossing north of South Shore Golf Course, the West Shore enters exit 4, an interchange with Huguenot Avenue. Continuing northeast, NY 440 is routed parallel with the eastern side of the former

Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island in the United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western State ...

, with exit 5 providing access to Arden Avenue. Bending northward once again, the West Shore crosses over

Fresh Kills Fresh Kills (from the Middle Dutch word '' kille'', meaning "riverbed" or "water channel") is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, forme ...

creek, and passes through a portion of the

William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge The William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge (WTDWR) is an wildlife refuge straddling the New Springville and Travis sections of Staten Island. The park was named in honor of Staten Island native William T. Davis, a renowned naturalist and entomolog ...

. West Shore continues through the

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

- Travis neighborhood, accessible at exit 7 through a service road interchange with Victory Boulevard (itself previously designated as NY 439A, until ). Running along the northern end of Travis, the West Shore Expressway parallels nearby railroad tracks before entering exit 8, a ramp to South Avenue and the Bloomfield neighborhood. Just a bit further north, the expressway enters exit 9 northbound, a single ramp to Glen Street. Just north of Glen Street, the West Shore Expressway enters a

semi-directional T interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...

with the northwest-southeast

Staten Island 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 ...

portion of I-278. At this interchange, NY 440 and I-278 become concurrent for a short distance on the Staten Island Expressway, a four-lane expressway along the northern tier of Staten Island. Along this stretch, NY 440 and I-278 meet

Richmond Avenue Richmond Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare on Staten Island, New York. Measuring approximately , the road runs from the South Shore community of Eltingville to the North Shore community of Graniteville. Street description Richmon ...

at exit 7. Just to the east, the expressway enters exit 9, which serves as a junction with the Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Expressway (the Dr. MLK Jr., also known, for its initial portion, as the Willowbrook Expressway). NY 440 turns north off I-278 and continues as the Dr. MLK Jr., just north of a junction with Victory Boulevard. The Dr. MLK Jr. crosses north through Staten Island, with the neighborhoods of Graniteville then Mariners Harbor on the west side, while

Westerleigh Westerleigh is a clustered village and civil parish (which includes Henfield) in South Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is north of the M4, south of Yate and nort ...

then

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for ...

(technically a portion of the Port Richmond neighborhood) are on the east side. Dr. MLK Jr. enters exit 12, a junction with Forest Avenue (the portion used by the previously designated, until 1968, NY 439), forming a "four corners" of the neighborhoods just mentioned. Continuing north, Dr. MLK Jr. enters exit 13, which connects to Walker Street in Port Richmond. Just north of exit 13, NY 440 passes through an electronic toll collection gantry (for traffic crossing from New Jersey over the

Bergen Point Bergen Point is a point of land that lends its name to the adjacent neighborhood in Bayonne in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The point is located on the north side of Kill van Kull at Newark Bay. It is the section of the city clos ...

Reach to enter onto the northside of Staten Island), then slopes onto the abutments of the

, condensing to four lanes. A short distance to the north, NY 440 crosses the state line back into New Jersey, continuing north as Route 440 and County Route 501 into the city of

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

History

NY 440 was initially designated in 1949, beginning at the

and ending at the

, as it does today; however, the route was originally routed on Drumgoole Boulevard and

in between the two bridges. In the early 1950s, proposals surfaced for the Willowbrook Parkway, which would extend from Staten Island Marine Park (later

Great Kills Park Great Kills Park is a public park in Great Kills, Staten Island, New York City. Originally named Marine Park, it is a part of the Staten Island unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. Administered by the National Park Service, it covers an area ...

and now part of the

Gateway National Recreation Area Gateway National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area in New York City and Monmouth County, New Jersey. It provides recreational opportunities that are not commonly found in a dense urban environment, including ocean swimming, bi ...

) on the island's East Shore to the Bayonne Bridge via Egbertville and

Bulls Head Bulls Head is a neighborhood in west-central Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is bordered by New Springville to the south, Bloomfield to the west, Willowbrook to the east, Graniteville to the north, and Westerleig ...

. A second highway, the West Shore Expressway, was proposed . As proposed, it would begin at the Outerbridge Crossing and run along the west shore of

to meet the Clove Lakes Expressway (

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 Yor ...

) near the

Goethals Bridge The Goethals Bridge () is the name of a pair of cable-stayed bridge spans connecting Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Staten Island, New York, in the United States. The spans cross a strait known as Arthur Kill, and replaced a cantilever bridge span b ...

. The first section of the Willowbrook Parkway—from I-278 north to modern exit 13—was completed by 1965. A short extension south to Victory Boulevard was opened to traffic by 1968. The highway was also renamed the Willowbrook Expressway by this time. It was never extended past Victory Boulevard as opposition from both local property owners and environmental activists prevented construction of the rest of the highway. Its original route has never been formally demapped, however. NY 440 was realigned to follow the Willowbrook Expressway by 1970. Drumgoole Boulevard was transformed into a

in the late 1960s and early 1970s and renamed the Richmond Parkway (now the

) ; however, NY 440 initially continued to follow the parkway. The segment of the West Shore Expressway southwest of Huguenot Avenue was opened and became part of a realigned NY 440 on July 1, 1977. NY 440 left the expressway at Huguenot Avenue and followed Arthur Kill Road east to Richmond Avenue, where it continued north on its original alignment. The former alignment of NY 440 on the Richmond Parkway was redesignated as Temporary NY 440. When the West Shore Expressway was completed in 1976, the Temporary NY 440 designation was eliminated while NY 440 was shifted westward to follow the West Shore and Clove Lakes Expressways between Huguenot Avenue and the Willowbrook Expressway. In the mid-1960s, officials in New Jersey and New York considered extending the

I-287 Interstate 287 (I-287) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US states of New Jersey and New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving the northern half of New Jersey and the counties of Rockland and Westchester in N ...

designation eastward from its current terminus at the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not consi ...

(

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

) to Staten Island via New Jersey Route 440 and the Richmond Parkway. The idea was eventually halted soon afterward. However, it is possible that the

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 ...

may reconsider these plans in the future. In 1990, the Willowbrook Expressway was renamed the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway in honor of

, the famous

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

leader. However, it is sometimes still called the Willowbrook Expressway by many locals today. The West Shore Expressway was ceremonially designated the Pearl Harbor Veterans Expressway by New York Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

in 1999. However, the expressway's official name did not change.

Exit list

References

External links

{{NYSR external links, type=N, nyroutes=yes, termini=yes, route=440, alps=yes
Outerbridge Crossing @ NYCROADS.com

West Shore Expressway(NY 440) @ NYCROADS.com

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway(NY 440) @ NYCROADS.com

Bayonne Bridge @ NYCROADS.com

Expressways in New York City Interstate 87 (New York)

440 Year 440 (CDXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinianus and Anatolius (or, less frequently, year 1193 ''Ab urbe ...

Transportation in Staten Island Robert Moses projects

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links