Harlem River Drive

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

10th Avenue in Inwood
Location
Country
New York
Highway system

Harlem River Drive is a 4.20-mile (6.76 km)

10th Avenue in Inwood, where the parkway ends and the road continues northwest as Dyckman Street. South of the Triborough Bridge, the parkway continues toward lower Manhattan as FDR Drive. All of Harlem River Drive is designated New York State Route 907P (NY 907P), an unsigned reference route
.

The parkway north of 165th Street was originally part of the Harlem River Speedway, a

horse carriage roadway opened in 1898. The rest of the parkway from 125th to 165th Street opened to traffic in stages from 1951 to 1962. The parkway's ceremonial designation, 369th Harlem Hellfighters Drive, is in honor of the 369th Infantry Regiment
, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

Route description

The northern terminus of Harlem River Drive at Dyckman Street and Tenth Avenue in Inwood

Harlem River Drive begins at exit 17 of the

Fifth Avenue.[3]

Crossing under

Trans-Manhattan Expressway, as well to Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights.[3]

Harlem River Drive continues northeast as a four-lane parkway. Crossing under the

Dyckman Street and Tenth Avenue, which is the northern end of Harlem River Drive.[3]

History

Harlem River Speedway in 1903

The Drive originated as the Harlem River Speedway,[4] which started construction in 1894[5] and opened in July 1898.[6] Originally, the Speedway was exclusively for the use of horse-drawn carriages and those on horseback; bicyclists were specifically excluded, as were sulkies and drays. The Speedway ran from West 155th Street to Dyckman Street, and soon became a tourist destination, where visitors watched carriage races and boat races on the river. Rich New Yorkers used the Speedway to train their horses and size up those of their friends and competitors.[4][7] In 1919, motorists were allowed on the Speedway, but for normal driving purposes.[7][8] The route was paved in 1922, and officially renamed the Harlem River Driveway.[7][9]

In 1939, Manhattan Borough President

Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx would feed into the drive.[10] Harlem River Drive would also contain playgrounds and parks along its route, similar to those on East River Drive,[11] There would be a service road abutting the drive's west side.[10] Sections of the old speedway in the path of the highway would incorporated into the new highway.[12] There would also be new ramps from the speedway section to the then-newly built George Washington Bridge.[13]

The cost of Harlem River Drive was originally estimated at over $18 million, of which $11 million was used to build the highway itself and nearly $7 million in acquired lands.[12] However, there were some disagreements during the planning of the new highway, and by 1946, the cost had increased to $26 million.[14]

The modern Harlem River Drive was completed in segments during the 1950s and early 1960s.[4] The segment connecting the Speedway to Eighth Avenue, which ended at 159th Street, was completed in 1951.[15][16] The highway from 125th Street and First Avenue to 132nd Street and Park Avenue opened in 1958, connecting three of the Harlem River bridges.[17] Another section between 142nd and 161st Streets opened in 1960,[18] and an extension south to 132nd Street opened two years later, closing the gap between the two sections.[19] In 1964, shortly after the drive's completion, the entire drive was widened to six lanes.[20]

In 2003, the

the all-black regiment that fought to defend France during World War I.[21]

Founded in 2010, the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway runs between the river and the drive, from 155th to Dyckman Streets, in a portion of Highbridge Park which had been abandoned and fenced off approximately half a century.[22]

Exit list

The entire route is in the

borough of Manhattan
. 

Locationmi
[1][23][2]		kmExitDestinationsNotes
Battery Park, Bruckner Expressway
Continuation south
0.1–
0.5		0.16–
0.80		19
2nd Avenue / East 125th Street
Southbound left exit
0.50.80–Third Avenue BridgeSouthbound entrance only
0.610.9820
East 132nd Street
Southbound exit and entrance
0.771.2421
East 135th Street / Madison Avenue Bridge
Northbound exit only
0.90–
1.40		1.45–
2.25		22
West 142nd Street
No northbound exit
Frederick Douglass Boulevard / West 155th Street
Southbound access via Harlem River Driveway; northbound left exit
West 179th Street – George Washington Bridge
Northbound left exit and southbound left entrance; exit 2 on I-95 / US 1
at-grade intersection
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "2014 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. July 22, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "New York County Inventory Listing" (CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. August 7, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Microsoft; Nokia (October 7, 2012). "Overview Map of the Harlem River Drive" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  4. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  5. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  6. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Robinson, Lauren (February 28, 2012). "How Harlem River Speedway Became Harlem River Drive". Museum of the City of New York.
  8. ^ "Autos to Use Speedway: Gallatin Will Open Harlem Drive to Passenger Machines Today". The New York Times. December 4, 1919. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  9. ^ "SPEEDWAY REOPENS WITH NEW SURFACE; Famous Harlem River Stretch Now Has Concrete Paving in Place of Dirt. CELEBRATION IS PLANNED Park Commissioner Notified of Arrangements for a Programon Oct. 12". The New York Times. August 13, 1922. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  10. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  11. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  12. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  13. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  14. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  15. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  16. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  17. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  18. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  19. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  20. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  21. ISBN 978-1-4027-3851-7
    . Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  22. ^ New York City Department of City Planning (2010). "Manhattan Waterfront Greenway". New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original on July 5, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
  23. ^ Google (January 15, 2020). "Harlem River Drive" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 15, 2020.

External links

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