New York State Route 878

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East endRockaway Boulevard in Springfield Gardens
Southern segment
Length1.96 mi[1] (3.15 km)
North endRockaway Boulevard in Inwood
South endAtlantic Beach Bridge in Lawrence
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CountiesQueens, Nassau
Highway system
←
I-890

New York State Route 878 (NY 878) is an expressway on Long Island and in New York City. The route exists in two sections, which both form the Nassau Expressway. NY 878's western terminus is the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue (NY 27) in Ozone Park, within southern Queens. Its southern terminus is immediately before the Village of Atlantic Beach, at the Atlantic Beach Bridge in Lawrence, within southwestern Nassau County. NY 878 is discontinuous between Farmers Boulevard in Queens and the town of Inwood in Nassau County. The two sections are connected to each other by Rockaway Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike.

NY 878 is maintained in part by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT); the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT); and the government of Nassau County. The NYSDOT also maintains part of Rockaway Boulevard, which is designated as the reference route NY 909G. The 0.70 miles (1.13 km) of NY 878 between I-678 and the JFK Expressway is officially designated Interstate 878 (I-878), but not signed as such. This segment is instead signed as NY 878. The NYSDOT designated the eastbound lanes of the freeway as I-878 in January 1970, but the entire Nassau Expressway was publicly re-designated as NY 878 by 1991. The unsigned Interstate 878 is the shortest Interstate Highway in the United States.

NY 878, the Nassau Expressway, was originally planned in 1945 as a freeway between the Belt Parkway in Queens and Long Beach in Nassau. The expressway was supposed to replace Rockaway Boulevard and Turnpike in the vicinity of what is now JFK Airport, connecting to a proposed Long Beach Expressway south of Atlantic Beach Bridge. The short freeway portion in Queens was originally built as part of Interstate 78 (I-78) in the late 1960s, but the segment of I-78 through New York City was canceled in March 1971 due to community opposition. Through the 1970s, the rest of the freeway south of 150th Street was also canceled for various reasons. A scaled-down version of the road in Nassau County, a four-lane expressway, was completed in 1990. There has been an attempt to complete the section of the freeway in Queens, but it was deferred due to the early 1990s economic recession.

Route description

Northern segment

Cross Bay Boulevard, concurrent with NY 27
.

The 3.73-mile (6.00 km) northwest section in

Van Wyck Expressway). There it becomes a two-way freeway. NY 878 continues east past the JFK Expressway, and becomes an expressway at a traffic light at North Hangar Road. NY 878 ends soon after at Rockaway Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard.[7]

"Interstate 878" redirects here. For the highway designated as I-878 from 1959 to 1970, see Interstate 278.

Interstate 878 marker

Interstate 878

LocationSouth Ozone Park, Queens, New York City
Length0.70 mi (1,130 m)

The 0.70-mile (1.13 km) stretch from

Van Wyck Expressway) east to the JFK Expressway is designated but not signed as I-878 by the Federal Highway Administration.[6][8] This makes I-878 the shortest three-digit Interstate Route and the shortest Interstate Highway in the Interstate Highway System.[8][9] This section of NY 878 only has route designations for the eastbound lanes.[7][10] The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) designates I-878 as the stretch of NY 878 from the Van Wyck Expressway east to the 150th Street underpass.[11] The entire segment, including the unsigned I-878, is maintained by the NYSDOT.[12]

Nassau County.[15][16][17]

Southern segment

The 2.40-mile (3.86 km) southeast section of NY 878 is an at-grade

toll plaza of the Atlantic Beach Bridge in Lawrence.[7][10] However, the NYSDOT only considers a 1.96-mile (3.15 km) piece of the highway to be part of NY 878. The state-maintained portion of NY 878 comprises the segment south of Burnside Avenue in Inwood.[5][1][4] The segment from Rockaway Turnpike to Burnside Avenue is maintained by the highway.[16][17][18] The southern section of NY 878 has no connections to other state routes.[15][4]

History

Predecessors and planning

Heading north from the Atlantic Beach Bridge on NY 878 in Nassau County
Map
The segments of I-78 and its auxiliaries in NYC and Nassau County that were built (black), cancelled segments (dark red), and segments that were cancelled with multiple different proposed routings (light red). In this map, I-878 extends from I-278, extends south across Brooklyn and Queens, and terminates at Atlantic Beach

The portion of Rockaway Boulevard and Turnpike between NY 27 and the Atlantic Beach Bridge was originally designated as New York State Route 104 by 1931.[19] However, this designation was removed by 1932.[20]

The expressway was first proposed in late 1945,[21] to connect Brooklyn with southeastern Queens and the South Shore of Long Island, as well as to provide a link to Idlewild (now JFK) Airport. It was among several highways planned jointly between Robert Moses' Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.[21][3][22] By 1949, the Nassau Expressway was planned along with a replacement for the original Atlantic Beach Bridge. It was envisioned by Moses and Nassau County executive J. Russell Sprague as a vital link between Atlantic Beach, the Belt Parkway system, and the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge. A contract for preliminary engineering work was awarded that year.[23][24] As originally proposed, the highway would have only extended from the interchange with Van Wyck Expressway and Belt Parkway to the Atlantic Beach Bridge.[21][23][24]

In the beginning, the Nassau Expressway was supposed to be a single highway, with the now-separate spurs to be connected by a highway running parallel to Rockaway Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike. The connector highway would have passed through the wetlands of Idlewild and Hook Creek (part of which would have been relocated to accommodate the highway), then turned south through the small community of Meadowmere, Queens, located near Five Towns.[23][25][26] This route was favored as a replacement to Rockaway Boulevard/Turnpike, which was viewed as inadequate and congested.[23][25] A map of the expressway was presented to the Nassau residents in 1951.[27] Three years later, the state made the first land acquisitions for the Nassau segment of the expressway.[28]

The Nassau Expressway was proposed alongside the never-built Long Beach Expressway. The Long Beach Expressway would have extended east past the Atlantic Beach Bridge along the South Shore to Long Beach and Lido Beach, ending at a junction with the Loop Parkway leading to Jones Beach and the Meadowbrook State Parkway.[21][23][24] The Long Beach Expressway would have been a six-lane expressway, running along Reynolds Channel on the north shore of the Long Beach Barrier Island to New York Avenue, then along Park Avenue, which was the primary commercial thoroughfare of Long Beach.[3][29]

The Nassau Expressway was mapped as part of the Interstate Highway System in 1961.[30] At that point, the New York State Department of Public Works began purchasing land for both the Nassau and Long Beach Expressways.[3] Over 65 acres (26 ha) of land were ceded from Idlewild Park near JFK Airport for the construction of the expressway.[31] The small community of Meyers Harbor, located in the Hook Creek wetlands east of the modern Five Towns Shopping Center, was condemned and destroyed to provide a path for the expressway.[32] Many homes in Inwood were either condemned and demolished or relocated in order to facilitate the expressway.[25] However, Long Beach residents opposed the proposed expressway's routing along Park Avenue, as the residents believed the highway would create a "Chinese Wall" dividing their community.[29] The Long Beach Expressway was vetoed by the state in 1967 due to community opposition.[3]

Construction and delays

The first section of the Nassau Expressway to be built was a 2.8-mile-long (4.5 km) eastbound-only segment between

Cross Bay Boulevard and 150th Street. The eastbound lanes ended at a point near JFK Expressway.[3][30][33] The Nassau Expressway intersected with the Van Wyck Expressway at JFK Airport.[3][13][34] The construction of this section was approved by the New York City Planning Commission and New York City Board of Estimate in 1963,[35][36] and work began in 1965.[37]: I-3  The new roadway was completed in either 1967[37]: I-3 [38] or 1971.[3] The construction of the highway's eastbound lanes drastically reduced congestion and increased average traffic speeds for drivers traveling eastbound on South Conduit Avenue and the Nassau Expressway. Westbound drivers on North Conduit Avenue continued to experience 10 to 15 miles per hour (16 to 24 km/h) congestion since no new highway lanes had been built for these drivers. This corridor saw an average of 600,000 daily trips by 1981, of which 20% were made by airport travelers.[37]
: I-2 to I-3 

Construction along Rockaway Boulevard and in Nassau County was hindered due to the presence of

muck, which was located in the wetlands near the Queens-Nassau border. The muck could not be built upon, and removing it would be both expensive and environmentally risky.[3] The wetlands had previously been used as a garbage landfill by the New York City Department of Sanitation.[39]: 2–3  In addition, residents opposed this segment of the highway. As with the canceled Long Beach Expressway it would have created a "Chinese wall" between communities in Nassau County.[25]

In March 1971, Governor Nelson Rockefeller revealed a plan for improving New York City highways. The plan denied funding to several proposed New York City Interstate Highways, including the Nassau Expressway segment east of 150th Street to Rockaway Boulevard. Rockefeller said that these highways did not qualify for a funding agreement from the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952, in which the federal government would pay 90% of the proposed highway's cost. The New York Times quoted a state official who said that this move had the effect of canceling these projects.[40] By that time, less than a quarter of the proposed $51.8 million, 10-mile (16 km) highway had been completed. The only section open at the time, the eastbound freeway west of JFK Airport, had been built at a cost of $18 million.[30] Maps from the 1970s show that the connector between the Van Wyck and Rockaway Boulevard had yet to be constructed.[13][34] However, a 1971 New York Times article mentioned that the freeway between the Van Wyck Expressway and 150th Street was already open. At the time, the entire highway from Queens to Nassau was planned for completion in 1981.[30]

By around late 1973, work on the project restarted. Builders sought funds from the

right-of-way for the unbuilt expressway became an unused, rodent-infested "wasteland". Meanwhile, Rockaway Turnpike was carrying five times the number of cars it had been built to accommodate.[25]

In 1976, New York Governor Hugh Carey announced the publication of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)'s five-year, $212 million highway improvement plan. This proposal included completing much of the rest of the Nassau Expressway.[42] Three years later, the NYSDOT published plans for the segment of the expressway that would be built in Nassau.[25] A revised plan for the Nassau County section of the highway was introduced around 1981. It called for a four-lane arterial highway between Rockaway Turnpike and the Atlantic Beach Bridge.[3][22] This section was opened in March 1990.[3]

Also around 1980, plans to complete the westbound lanes of the expressway in Queens were reintroduced. The new expressway would include direct access to Aqueduct Racetrack.[37]: I-6 to I-7 [43] Work on the expressway project was to begin in 1998.[44] However, by the 1990s, the project had not commenced, even though the new expressway would have relieved congestion on the parallel Belt Parkway. Construction was delayed indefinitely in 1995 due to a lack of funds due to the early-1990s recession, as well as a general decline in horse racing at the Aqueduct Racetrack, which obviated the need for the westbound freeway in Queens.[44]

In 1998, Nassau County legislator

Bruce A. Blakeman proposed renaming the southern portion of NY 878 after President Ronald Reagan. Originally, he wanted that name applied to the Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway (NY 135) further east. After opposition to that expressway's renaming, Blakeman then proposed renaming the Nassau Expressway after Reagan. However, the Nassau Expressway renaming proposal was also opposed.[45]

In October 2014, Nassau County Legislator Howard Kopel (representing Lawrence) and New York State Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (representing Howard Beach, Broad Channel, and the Rockaways) advocated for the completion of the entire Nassau Expressway, in order to alleviate traffic on Rockaway Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike, and to provide an evacuation route in the event of a natural disaster.[46]

Designation history

Clearview Expressway
extension

From circa 1959 until 1970, the

Clearview Expressway, using the Throgs Neck Bridge and Cross Bronx Expressway to end at the Bruckner Interchange.[47][48]

The one-way eastbound section of the Nassau Expressway from Cross Bay Boulevard to the

Van Wyck Expressway was built in 1967, when the highway was still part of I-78.[37]: I-3 [38] I-78 through New York City was canceled in March 1971.[40] Effective January 1, 1970, the year before, the Nassau Expressway and unbuilt Cross Brooklyn Expressway, stretching from I-278 at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge east to the Atlantic Beach Bridge, was officially designated I-878 by the NYSDOT.[2] The Nassau Expressway was redesignated as NY 878 by 1991.[4]

Until 2005, the southern terminus of the southern portion of NY 878 was at Meadow Causeway.

reference route.[18] In 2005, NY 878 was extended south to its present terminus at the Atlantic Beach Bridge toll barrier, resulting in an overlap with NY 900V.[50] The NY 900V designation, now redundant to NY 878, was removed by October 2007.[51]

Exit list

Exit numbers on NY 878's northern segment are only posted in the eastbound direction. There are no exit numbers for the westbound lanes.[10][7]

CountyLocationmi[1][12][17]kmExitDestinationsNotes
QueensOzone Park0.00.0–
 NY 27 west (South Conduit Avenue)		Western terminus of eastbound NY 878
0.40.64–
 NY 27 east (South Conduit Avenue) / Belt Parkway to Lefferts Boulevard – Long Term Parking		Eastbound exit only
1.62.6– Lefferts Boulevard – Long Term ParkingEastbound entrance only
Kennedy Airport
No westbound entrance; signed as exits 1S (south) and 1N (north); I-678 exits 1E-W
2.43.9–
Kennedy Airport, Verrazzano Bridge
Westbound exit only; western terminus of westbound NY 878
Kennedy Airport
No westbound exit
2.94.72N

 NY 27 east (South Conduit Avenue) / Belt Parkway east		Eastbound exit only
3.35.3Eastern end of freeway section
3 North Hangar Road / North Boundary Road –
At-grade intersection with westbound jughandle
3.736.00Rockaway Boulevard north / Farmers Boulevard
At-grade intersection
with eastbound reverse jughandle; Rockaway Boulevard continues south without designation
Gap in route; connection made via 2.8 miles (4.51 kilometres) of Rockaway Boulevard and Turnpike
NassauInwood0.00.0Burnside AvenueAt-grade intersection; Nassau Expressway continues north as unsigned Nassau County Route 878T, merging into Rockaway Turnpike 0.53 miles (1 km) north[52]
Lawrence1.3–
1.45		2.1–
2.33		Rock Hall RoadAt-grade intersection except northbound exit
1.712.75Seagirt Boulevard –
Rockaways, Brooklyn
Trumpet interchange
1.963.15Atlantic Beach Bridge – Atlantic Beach, Long BeachContinuation south
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. p. 325. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c New York State Department of Transportation (January 1, 1970). Description of Touring Routes in New York State for the Interstate (I), Federal (U.S.) and State (N.Y.) Route Number Systems (PDF). Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Nassau Expressway". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. December 1, 2001. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lawrence Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. New York State Department of Transportation. 1991. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  5. ^ a b New York State Department of Transportation (October 2004). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Scenic Byways & Bicycle Routes in New York State (PDF). Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c New York State Department of Transportation (2003). "Queens County traffic counts" (PDF). Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  7. ^ a b c d Google (January 6, 2017). "New York State Route 878 (western segment)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Adderly, Kevin (December 31, 2016). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as of December 31, 2016". Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  9. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c For images of the signs, see:
  11. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (January 2017). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State (PDF). Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c d "Queens County Inventory Listing" (CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. August 7, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  13. ^ a b c Jamaica Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. New York State Department of Transportation. 1975. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  14. ^ a b "Local Roads Listing – New York City" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. July 27, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  15. ^ a b Lynbrook Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. New York State Department of Transportation. 1991. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  16. ^ a b "County Roads Listing – Nassau County" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. July 26, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  17. ^ a b c "Nassau County Inventory Listing" (CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. August 7, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  18. ^ a b c New York State Department of Transportation (2003). "Nassau County traffic counts" (PDF). Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  19. Standard Oil Company
    . 1931.
  20. Texas Oil Company
    . 1932.
  21. ^ a b c d Moses, Robert (November 11, 1945). "New Highways for a Better New York; We have started a program, says Mr. Moses, which will give us a less congested and more comfortable and accessible city" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  22. ^ a b c "Long Island Journal". The New York Times. June 6, 1982. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  23. ^ a b c d e Ingram, Joseph C. (July 16, 1949). "New Bridge To End Shore Traffic Jam: Six-Lane Atlantic Beach Span as Key Link for Parkways Will Be Started This Fall" (PDF). The New York Times. Mineola, New York. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  24. ^ a b c "Work Is Let To Start Nassau Expressways" (PDF). The New York Times. Albany, New York. May 5, 1949. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g Abramson, Barry (March 25, 1979). "Nassau Expressway Ready to Materialize". The New York Times. Inwood, New York. p. 14. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  26. ^ "Town of Hempstead Jurisdiction Map – Nassau County GIS". nassau-county.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  27. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  28. Wave of Long Island. August 19, 1954. p. 1. Retrieved March 11, 2017 – via Fultonhistory.com
    .
  29. ^ a b "Long Beach Trade Fights Super-Road: Group Says the Route Through Business Center Would Create 'Chinese Wall'" (PDF). The New York Times. Long Beach, New York. July 30, 1949. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  30. ^ a b c d "10.6-Mile Nassau Expressway May Be Completed in 10 Years" (PDF). The New York Times. Babylon, New York. March 21, 1971. p. BQ99. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  31. ^ "Idlewild Park: History". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  32. Curbed New York
    . Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  33. ^ a b Burks, Edward C. (September 11, 1973). "Funds Sought for Nassau Expressway". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  34. ^ a b Jamaica Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. New York State Department of Transportation. 1979. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  35. ^ "Planning Group Backs New Road; Link of Nassau Expressway to Stretch 2.8 Miles" (PDF). The New York Times. April 19, 1963. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  36. ^ Bennett, Charles G. (June 28, 1963). "2 Links Approved for Queens Road; City Board Gives Go-Ahead on Nassau Expressway" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  37. ^ a b c d e Nassau Expressway Construction, New York City: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, New York State Department of Transportation. 1981. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  38. ^ a b "NY State Highway Bridge Data: Queens County" (PDF). National Bridge Inventory. United States Department of Transportation; Federal Highway Administration. November 30, 2017. p. 7. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  39. ^ a b Nassau Expressway Extension from the Vicinity of Cross Bay Blvd to Atlantic City Bridge, Queens/Nassau Counties: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. 1972. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  40. ^ a b Cliness, Francis X. (March 25, 1971). "Lower Manhattan Road Killed Under State Plan" (PDF). The New York Times. p. 78. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  41. ^ Faber, Harold (April 21, 1974). "Loss of U.S. Aid to Delay Nassau Expressway Link". The New York Times. Albany, New York. p. 105. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  42. Wave of Long Island. September 18, 1976. p. 15. Retrieved March 11, 2017 – via Fultonhistory.com
    .
  43. Wave of Long Island. December 8, 1979. p. 13. Retrieved March 11, 2017 – via Fultonhistory.com
    .
  44. ^ a b Herszenhorn, David M. (September 3, 1995). "Neighborhood Report: South Ozone Park; 'Road to Nowhere': Still No Return". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  45. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  46. ^ Parker, Vanessa (October 1, 2014). "Nassau Expressway completion sought: Rally in Lawrence on Sunday". Long Island Herald. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  47. ^
    Rand McNally and Company
    . 1960. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  48. ^
    OCLC 2551801
    .
  49. ^ New York State Department of Transportation. "2004 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  50. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (August 16, 2006). "2005 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). Retrieved March 26, 2009.
  51. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (October 2007). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State.
  52. ^ "CR 878T" (PDF). NYSDOT Local Highway Inventory. Retrieved January 11, 2024.

External links

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