The Palisades Interstate Parkway (PIP) is a limited-access highway in the U.S. states of

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 Delawa ...

and New York. The parkway is a major commuter route into

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 ...

from Rockland and Orange counties in New York and Bergen County in New Jersey. The southern terminus of the route is at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where it connects to Interstate 95 (I-95), New Jersey Route 4, U.S. 1, U.S. 9, and US 46. Its northern terminus is at a traffic circle in

Fort Montgomery, New York Fort Montgomery is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 1,571 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area a ...

, where the PIP meets US 9W and US 202 at the Bear Mountain Bridge. At exit 18, the PIP forms a concurrency with US 6 for the remaining duration of its run. The route is named for the

Hudson River Palisades The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs ...

, a line of cliffs rising along the western side of 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 Ne ...

. The PIP is designated, but not signed as Route 445 in New Jersey and New York State Route 987C (NY 987C), an unsigned reference route, in New York. As with most parkways in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

, commercial traffic is prohibited from using the PIP. The Palisades Interstate Parkway was built from 1947–1958, and fully opened to traffic on August 28, 1958.

Route description

The mainline of the parkway is designated as Route 445 in New Jersey and NY 987C in New York. The latter is one of New York's reference routes. A spur connecting the parkway to US 9W in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is designated Route 445S. All three designations are unsigned and used only for inventory purposes. The parkway is owned and maintained by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission but occasional maintenance is performed by the

and New York state departments of transportation. Commercial vehicles are prohibited on the entire length of the Palisades Interstate Parkway. The speed limit on the highway used to be south of the New York State Thruway and north of it. As of October 2018, it is 55 mph for the entire length.

New Jersey

The Palisades Interstate Parkway begins at the George Washington Bridge (GWB) in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Passengers from the upper level of the GWB can directly access the PIP northbound, while passengers from the lower level of the bridge must travel through GWB Plaza on US 9W before getting on the parkway. Passengers traveling northbound on the New Jersey Turnpike ( I-95) must be in local lanes to directly get on the PIP. Once the PIP leaves the GWB, it proceeds north along the New Jersey Palisades, past the Englewood Cliffs Service Area. Unlike service areas further north along the parkway, there are two in Englewood, one for northbound drivers and one for southbound drivers. The others are in the center median shared by drivers going in both directions. There are also three different scenic lookout points over the Palisades near the northern tip of the island 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 ...

at the Harlem River. After this, the PIP parallels US 9W and the

for its entire run in New Jersey. The PIP leaves New Jersey into New York in the borough of Rockleigh. The entire New Jersey portion of the Palisades Interstate Parkway is within Bergen County. It is designated as a state scenic byway known as the Palisades Scenic Byway. The PIP, the New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 278, and Interstate 676 are the only highways that use sequential exit numbering in New Jersey; all others in the state are based on mileage, except for the

Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector The Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector (officially the Atlantic City Expressway Connector; also known as the Atlantic City Connector or Brigantine Connector) is a connector freeway in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. It is a extensi ...

in Atlantic City, which uses lettered exits (no numerals).

New York

The parkway enters

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

in the hamlet of Palisades. At about the border the PIP changes direction from due north along the Hudson River to a north-west direction. Shortly after the Kings Ferry Service Area in the center median, the first two exits in New York are key exits for two colleges in Rockland County. Exit 5 provides a link to

St. Thomas Aquinas College St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) is a private college in Sparkill, New York. The college is named after the medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. It was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, whose headquarters are in th ...

, and exit 6 provides a link to Dominican College. In

West Nyack West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

, the PIP has a key interchange with the New York State Thruway ( I-87 and

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 ...

). This intersection is about seven miles (11 km) west of the Tappan Zee Bridge. After the PIP's interchange with the NY Thruway, the PIP turns slightly north-east. At exit 13, the PIP intersects US 202 as the route crosses south of Harriman State Park in Mount Ivy. This is the first of two meetings between the PIP and US 202. At exit 15, the PIP has its last busy intersection in Rockland County with County Route 106 (CR 106, formerly part of NY 210) in Stony Point. From here, the PIP enters Harriman State Park, and at exit 16, the PIP intersects

Lake Welch Parkway Lake Welch Parkway, sometimes labeled Lake Welch Drive, is a parkway located within Harriman State Park in southern New York in the United States. It extends for on a southwest–northeast alignment from an intersection with Seven Lakes Drive to ...

, which is one of several parkways commissioned within the park. The parkway enters Orange County north of Lake Welch Parkway at exit 16 and south of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission Visitor Center, located in the center median in what was originally a parkway service area. The first interchange in Orange County is exit 17 at Anthony Wayne Recreation Area. At exit 18, the PIP intersects US 6 and Seven Lakes Drive. US 6 west heads toward the Thruway and NY 17 five miles (8 km) west in Harriman. US 6 east forms the PIP's only concurrency for the last two miles (3 km) of the PIP's run. Seven Lakes Drive joins the two routes for one mile (1.6 km) before departing at exit 19. The two routes then enter Bear Mountain State Park in an eastern direction. Finally, the Palisades Interstate Parkway meets its end at US 9W and US 202 at a traffic circle near the Hudson River and the Bear Mountain Bridge. US 6 and US 202 head east over the bridge, while US 9W heads north toward the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in West Point. (Southbound US 9W, breaking off to the right, is the same road as westbound US 202.)

History

In 1933–34, the first thoughts of a Palisades Interstate Parkway were developed by engineer and environmentalist

William A. Welch Major William Addams Welch (August 20, 1868 – May 4, 1941) was an American engineer and environmentalist who would have a major impact on the state and national park systems of the United States. Born in Cynthiana, Kentucky, he obtained a ci ...

, who was general manager and chief engineer of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.''Palisades Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan''
Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Accessed April 7, 2016. "In 1934 Welch formally presented the map, entitled ''Key Map Preliminary Survey Top of Palisades and Palisades Interstate Park New Jersey Section'' to the PIPC. In addition to the survey, Welch and Shurtleff also prepared a paper entitled ''A Scenic Parkway on the Top of the Palisades within the Palisades Interstate Park, State of New Jersey''. This report, subsequently referred to as Welch's 'Parkway Plan', included a suggested route for the parkway, a design concept and a strategy for accomplishing the project." The plan was to build a parkway to connect the New Jersey Palisades with the state parks along the Hudson River in Rockland and Orange counties. Welch would soon garner the support of John D. Rockefeller, who donated of land along the New Jersey Palisades overlooking the

in 1933. With this favorable momentum for the new route, the proposed route was accepted as a Civil Works Administration project under Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition. However, the New Jersey Highway Commission did not support construction, so the idea of a parkway was put on hold.Ingraham, Joseph C
"THE PARKWAY'S LAST LINK; Scenic Palisades Route To Open in Entirety This Week"
''

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 ...

'', August 24, 1958. Accessed April 7, 2016. "THE piecemeal construction of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, which has been abuilding since 1947, will come to an end this week when Governor Harriman cuts a ceremonial ribbon marking completion of the forty-two-mile road from the George Washington Bridge to Bear Mountain." During the 1940s, Rockefeller renewed the push for a parkway along the New Jersey Palisades, and teamed with ultimate PIP planner,

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 ...

, to establish and design the parkway. The plan originally was to have the PIP stretch from the Garden State Parkway, along the Hudson River, to the George Washington Bridge, and then north along its present-day route ending at the Bear Mountain Bridge. This southern extension was never built, but construction began on the current PIP in New York on April 1, 1947. Construction on the New Jersey portion began about one year later. Construction was delayed twice due to material shortages, but that did not stop the PIP from being opened in stages during the 1940s and 1950s. The route was completed in New Jersey in 1957, and on August 28, 1958, the final piece of the PIP was completed between exits 5 and 9 in southern Rockland County.Staff
"PALISADES ROUTE WILL OPEN TODAY; Officials to Mark Completion of Final Link in 42-Mile Interstate Parkway"
''

'', August 28, 1958. Accessed April 7, 2016. "The final gap in a scenic route overlooking the Hudson River will be closed with a ceremony at noon today at Orangeburg, N. Y. " The PIP is known for its stone arch overpasses throughout its route and its several scenic overlooks in New Jersey. All sorts of unique trees and flowers can be seen along the route as well. In 1998, because of all the natural and constructed beauty, the PIP was designated as a national landmark by the National Park Service.

Exit list

While most highways in the U.S. reset their mile markers and exit numbers when crossing a state line, the Palisades Parkway does not reset either.

Rest areas

There are some rest areas on the Palisades Interstate Parkway. * Sparkill (located just south of Exit 5, fuel and convenience store. Open 24 Hours. Park and Ride also available. Accessible both sides.) (New York) * Englewood Cliffs (located past exit 1 just before the George Washington Bridge, fuel and convenience store. There are two separate rest areas on both sides. Phone service is also available.) (New Jersey) * Alpine Lookout (Alpine): (North side only. Located near exit 2. Parking/scenic view area only. No fuel.) (New Jersey) * Rockefeller Lookout (Englewood Cliffs): (North side only. Parking/scenic view area only. No fuel.) (New Jersey) * Bear Mountain/Tomkins Cove (located between exits 16 and 17. Information and book store. No fuel. Accessible both sides.) (New York) * State Line Lookout (Visitor center and lookout. No fuel). (New Jersey)

Palisades Interstate Parkway Police

The Palisades Interstate Parkway Police is a highway law enforcement agency for protecting the Palisades Interstate Parkway and to enforce state and city laws in the New Jersey section of highway. Headquartered in Alpine, New Jersey on Alpine Approach Road. The department consists of one chief, two lieutenants, five sergeants, and seventeen patrol officers. There are also security guards available who were trained and hired for by the police academy. Other than patrol cars, the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police also uses police boats for marine patrols and a bicycle unit

References

External links

Palisades Interstate ParkwayPalisades Interstate Parkway PoliceAn enlarged view of road jurisdiction at the Fort Lee approaches to the George Washington BridgeGoogle maps satellite image of the southern end of the ParkwayPalisades Parkway (NJ 445) (Greater New York Roads)Palisades Parkway (NY) (Greater New York Roads)
{{Good article Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Transportation in Bergen County, New Jersey Historic districts in Orange County, New York Historic districts in Rockland County, New York Parkways in New York (state) State highways in New Jersey Palisades Interstate Park system Robert Moses projects Transportation in Orange County, New York Transportation in Rockland County, New York Limited-access roads in New Jersey U.S. Route 6 Parkways in the United States Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Bergen County, New Jersey Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey