West Side Highway
| |
---|---|
North end | NY 9A / Henry Hudson Parkway in Hell's Kitchen |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
Highway system | |
The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a 5.42-mile-long (8.72 km) mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City.[2] It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of maintenance, and was dismantled by 1989. North of 72nd Street the roadway continues north as the Henry Hudson Parkway.[2]
The current highway was complete by 2001, but required reconstruction after the
Route description
The highway is a six-to-eight lane
West Street
The highway begins from
Eleventh Avenue
Eleventh Avenue begins just north of the intersection with
Twelfth Avenue
At 22nd Street, the highway continues as Twelfth Avenue passing by the
West Side Elevated Highway
Various proposals circulated in the 1920s to build an expressway on the west side. Among the proposals:
- Rail/Highway Double Decker – The New York Central Railroad proposed building a highway/rail double decked highway from 72nd Street to Canal Street, which would be constructed privately at no cost to the city. It would eliminate 106 grade crossings over 84 blocks. It ran into opposition because of fears that it would create a rail monopoly.
- Hencken's Ten-story Train/Car/Office/People Mover – Engineer John Hencken proposed an exotic ten-story complex with a rail line underground, a road at street level, and a people mover built above that, topped by ten stories of apartments and offices. The highway would run on top of the ten-story buildings.[3][4] A similar alternative was offered by Benjamin Battin.[citation needed]
Manhattan borough president Julius Miller said that something had to be done right away and ultimately pushed through the plan for the West Side Elevated Highway, which was to eventually bear his name. The proposal immediately ran into stiff opposition. The City Club and New York City Mayor James J. Walker objected to the highway on the grounds that it would block waterfront-bound freight traffic. At the time, West Street exhibited a "daily avalanche of freight and passengers in traffic", and was "walled by an unbroken line of bulkhead sheds and dock structures"[5] blocking the view not only of the river, but even of the ships being serviced, and the commerce carried out on those piers and slips was vital to the economic health of the city. They believed that the plans should wait until the surface railroad tracks were removed in the area, at which point the elevated highway might not be necessary. Many objected that it would be ugly. Finally, in 1929, construction started, and the section between Canal Street and West 72nd Street was completed in 1937, with a "Southern Extension" to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel completed in 1951.
Death Avenue
Before the West Side Highway was built, the road along the
The first official proposal for an elevated highway along Manhattan's west side was made by Police Commissioner
Plans for the new highway
Double-decker railroad/highway proposal
On February 2, 1925, it was announced that the railroad would build a combined double-decker elevated highway and freight railroad (with the highway above the railroad) for $24 million at no cost to the city. At the time, Eleventh Avenue was popularly known as "Death Avenue" owing to the dangers of the surface line. The elevated structure would eliminate 106 grade crossings over 84 blocks. The proposal came about after six months of negotiations between Manhattan Borough President Julius Miller and the NYCRR. The planned highway would no longer go to the Battery, instead ending at Canal Street, meeting the Holland Tunnel (which would open to traffic on November 13, 1927). The northern terminus was set at 72nd Street and Riverside Drive. Ramps were planned at Canal Street, 23rd Street, Riverside Drive, and at least two other locations.[7]
The
Miller responded by arguing that something had to be done right away. He said that if the Port Authority could put forward a comprehensive plan within five years, he would put his full support behind it. He also pointed out that his plan was only one part of his "comprehensive plan for the relief of traffic congestion"; he had already widened many avenues and removed several Midtown elevated railroad spurs. He said the plan would not give the NYCRR any rights they did not already have; it was merely a relocation of existing tracks. The tracks had been on the surface for 55 years despite legal action taken against them, and Miller claimed they would be there for another 50 if nothing were done. Miller also received a letter from NYCRR Vice President Ira Place, stating that the railroad would reduce freight rates if the new elevated structure were built.[10]
Miller's elevated single-deck highway
On January 20, 1926, borough president Miller sent a plan for an $11 million elevated highway to be built completely on city property to the Board of Estimate. The elevated railroad was removed from the plan, since NYCRR had come up with a separate project for partially elevating and depressing their railroad (now known as the
On April 24, 1925, Governor Al Smith signed a bill authorizing the construction of the highway. Funds for the $11 million highway were to be procured by property assessments along the route; this was considered reasonable due to advantages gained from the highway by those living along the route. The road was to be 65 feet (20 m), five feet wider than Fifth Avenue, with a speed limit of at least 30 miles per hour (48 km/h), and would be 20 feet (6.1 m) off the ground. It would be built of steel, with a cement face. A three-foot (1 m) sidewalk would be built for pedestrians, although the highway was intended mainly for motor vehicles. Two-block-long ramps would be provided with easy grades for entering and exiting the highway. Trucks would be allowed on the highway.[12]
The Board of Estimate approved the highway, now costing $13.5 million on June 14, 1926. It was to be built so a second deck could be added at a later time for about $9 million if traffic warranted. Controller Charles W. Berry questioned the proposal until he realized the money would come from tax assessments, at which time he agreed with the project.[13]
On November 10, 1926, the Sinking Fund Commission voted to give the city title to the
On February 17, 1927, the Board of Estimate adopted the final plans for the highway, setting a hearing date of March 24. It was split into two sections, Section one went from
Minor changes to the highway were approved on January 10, 1929, in response to several objections. The alignment in the Chelsea district was slightly modified to avoid proposed piers, and the path through the markets was realigned to pass over a corner of the property. In addition, the
Exotic alternatives
An alternate plan was put forth by John Hencken, an engineer, and approved by
Dr. Benjamin Battin, a professor at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, had a similar plan for an eight-story high boulevard. The street level and first floor would be connected to the Hudson River piers. The second and third stories would carry electric passenger trains, with the second floor carrying northbound traffic and southbound traffic using the third floor. A public garage would occupy the fourth and fifth floors, helping to pay off the bonds for the project. The sixth and seventh floors would carry one-way passenger car traffic, permitting speeds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). A reversible roadway, carrying cars in the direction of rush hour traffic, would occupy the eighth and ninth (top) levels. Ramps to the upper car levels would be provided every 15 to 20 blocks.[22]
Art Society objections
The plan was criticized by Thomas Adams, Regional Plan Association director, at the 1927 meeting of the Municipal Art Society. He disapproved of its ugliness and noise, and suggested simply clearing obstructions to the existing surface road to speed traffic. Adams instead supported a comprehensive regional plan for development in the Hudson Valley.[23] The Fine Arts Federation also opposed the highway, saying that elevated structures were unsightly, and that if the existing street were cleared a new highway might not be required.[24]
The City Club and New York City Mayor
Concerns were raised by the Women's League for the Protection of Riverside Park, which opposed routing trucks through Riverside Park, which would contain a parkway extending from the north end of the planned elevated highway. The League emphasized that commercial traffic should be banned north of 72nd Street (as it currently is on the Henry Hudson Parkway).[26]
Robert Moses proposals
Having begun at Canal Street in 1929, implementation of the elevated roadway had progressed as far as Midtown by the time that Robert Moses became NYC Parks Commissioner and took a direct interest in local projects 1934. However, Moses created significant works extending from the north and south ends of the West Side Highway, including:
- Henry Hudson Parkway – The West Side Highway becomes the Henry Hudson Parkway just north of 72nd Street thanks to efforts by Moses called the "West Side Improvement." The parkway does not permit trucks. The parkway is partially an elevated highway over the rail tracks (now used by Amtrak).
- Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel – The highway hooks into the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel at its southern end. Moses had proposed to create the "Brooklyn–Battery Crossing Bridge" but federal intervention obliged Moses to use a tunnel instead.
- Battery Park Underpass connects to FDR Drive.
In the 1960s, Moses proposed straightening the West Side Highway, widening both the highway and the Henry Hudson Parkway, and constructing both the
1973 collapse
The highway was obsolete almost from the beginning. Its lanes were considered too narrow and it could not accommodate trucks. Sharp "S" exit ramps proved hazardous, as did the left-hand exit and entrance lanes that made merging dangerous.[29]: 10
On December 15, 1973, the northbound lanes between Little West 12th Street and
Westway
In 1971, the
Hugh Carey, who was to become governor, and Ed Koch, who was to become mayor, both campaigned against the plan, saying that it would be a waste of government funds and would be a windfall for private developers. After the two were elected, they both reversed their position and supported the plan.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan's Department of Transportation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers were on board for the construction with a 1981 price tag of $2.1 billion.
But in 1982, Judge
On September 30, 1985, New York City officially gave up on the project,[33][34] allocating 60 percent of its interstate highway funds to mass transit[33] and setting aside $811 million for the "West Side Highway Replacement Project".
Riverside South
In the 1970s, debates raged about what to do with the elevated section from West 72nd Street and 59th Street. One version of Westway would have continued the buried highway up to the George Washington Bridge, eliminating the elevated section between 59th and 72nd streets, as well as the Henry Hudson Parkway. That option was rejected because of the cost and because it would violate the Blumenthal Amendment, which prohibited any highway construction that would alter Riverside Park.[37] The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) rejected former parks commissioner Robert Moses's proposal to relocate the elevated section to grade also because of the Blumenthal Amendment as well as the presumed negative effect on development opportunities.[38] Donald Trump, who had an option on the property, seized on Moses's proposal as a way to enhance his development plans,[39] thus negating one of NYSDOT's objections, but his proposed 12,000-unit residential development went nowhere. So NYSDOT planned for a renovation of the viaduct.[40]
External image | |
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Google Maps Street View of highway and northbound tunnel entrance |
A subsequent development project, Lincoln West, accepted the elevated highway, but, although Lincoln West won approval from the City,[41] it failed to obtain financing. Later, Trump acquired the property and proposed Television City, a design based on a massive 13-block-long podium to hide the elevated highway. Responding to criticism,[42] Trump switched architects, reduced the podium to eight blocks in length, and changed the name to Trump City.
Six civic organizations opposed to Trump City proposed a plan that would relocate and bury the highway in conjunction with a much smaller development and a southward extension of
As part of the Riverside South agreement, the
West Side Highway Replacement Project
Following the end of the Westway project, there were debates on what to do about the rest of the highway. Vollmer Associates was contracted for the highway replacement project in September 1986. There were four alternatives: three at-grade options with a varying number of lanes and quality of roadway, and one option with grade-separated ramps over busy intersections.[46] By November, a commission was set up to discuss the alternatives. Four days later, several sections of the highway were agreed on.[47] It would be an elevated highway north of 49th Street; an at-grade roadway between 44th and 25th Streets, including a depressed northbound roadway from 32nd to 42nd Streets; a tunnel under a park between 20th and 25th Streets; an at-grade boulevard between 20th and Houston Streets; an at-grade road with a 3-lane elevated ramp between Houston and Harrison Streets; and a 9-lane boulevard with depressed ramps through Battery Park City. There would be 26 traffic lights. This proposal was assailed by mass-transit associations, environmental groups, and elected officials.[48]
In January 1987, the commission unanimously agreed to build the highway as a six-lane
Construction began in early 1996 on the West Side Highway project. The first of the project's seven segments—between Clarkson and Horatio streets in the Greenwich Village neighborhood—was completed in 1998.[54]
Construction of the West Side Highway Replacement Project was completed between the Battery and 59th Street in August 2001. The period between the 1973 collapse and the 1985 demise of Westway was a chaotic time for drivers as the original elevated highway was dismantled (finally in 1989) and traffic was rerouted to temporary highways. The new highway permits trucks, which the old elevated did not. Together with the northern Henry Hudson Parkway, it creates a leafy boulevard along the Hudson River from the northern tip to the southern tip of Manhattan.
Hudson River Park
Legislation in June 1998 followed an agreement by Mayor
Joe DiMaggio Highway
Even though the highway has had two other official names, the official names have never stuck. The first official name was the Miller Highway, in honor of the city council president who pushed for the highway. On March 30, 1999, at the urging of Mayor Giuliani, the highway was renamed for legendary New York Yankees player Joe DiMaggio, who had died three weeks earlier. Legislation to rename the highway had been introduced before DiMaggio died. Giuliani championed the name change because the highway would have been the approach to the proposed West Side Stadium at the highway and 32nd Street. DiMaggio lived on Manhattan's east side.[55]
Signs bearing the new, ceremonial name of the highway were erected on April 25, 1999. This was in the midst of a reconstruction, finished on March 29, 2002, after the September 11 attacks in 2001 destroyed part of the road, which was still being rebuilt. Only minimal signage for the new name was erected as a result, while "West Side Highway" signs abound.
September 11, 2001, and aftermath
Completion of the project was originally set for October 2001, but it was delayed for years due to damage caused by the
There was debate over whether to rebuild the damaged section of the road as a surface street or a tunnel. As a master plan was developed for Ground Zero, plans initially called for the West Side Highway to be buried in a tunnel between the site and Battery Park City that was expected to cost $1 billion. Goldman Sachs, which had planned to build its headquarters in Battery Park City, announced its intention to cancel those plans because of concerns about the traffic pattern and long-term construction disruptions. This prompted New York Governor George Pataki to cancel the tunnel project in favor of a boulevard.[57] The boulevard was finished by 2014.[58]
In 2004, the police forces of both the PANYNJ and the NYPD announced concerns that the proposed One World Trade Center would be too close to the West Side Highway and thus vulnerable to car bombs. This prompted a total redesign of the tower and the relocation of its site away from the highway.
There used to be four West Street pedestrian bridges, two of them erected after the September 11 attacks. A below-grade crossing of the West Side Highway connecting the Brookfield Place (formerly the World Financial Center) complex and the Concourse level of the World Trade Center opened in October 2013, allowing the pedestrian bridge adjacent to Vesey Street to be removed.
On October 31, 2017, a man intentionally drove a pickup truck for a mile through the Hudson River Park's bike path, parallel to the West Side Highway, between Houston Street and Chambers Street, killing eight people and injuring at least 11.[59] In 2022, Manhattan borough president Mark Levine proposed converting one lane of the West Side Highway into a bike path due to heavy traffic on Hudson River Park's bike lane.[60][61]
Major intersections
Despite mostly being a boulevard, with many at-grade intersections and traffic lights, some of the intersections are given exit numbers.
Location | mi[1][62] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battery Park | 0.00 | 0.00 | – | Battery Place | Southern terminus of NY 9A |
FDR Drive north (Battery Park Underpass ) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern terminus of FDR Drive | ||||
0.2– 0.4 | 0.32– 0.64 | 2 | At-grade intersection except southbound left exit | ||
Chinatown, Little Italy, New Jersey | At-grade intersection | ||||
Meat Market | At-grade intersection | ||||
NY 495 west (Lincoln Tunnel) – New Jersey | At-grade intersection; Lincoln Tunnel exit for cars | ||||
NY 495 west (Lincoln Tunnel) – New Jersey | At-grade intersection; Lincoln Tunnel exit for all vehicles | ||||
4.59 | 7.39 | 7 | West 56th Street / West 57th Street | At-grade intersection except northbound exit; exit number not signed southbound | |
4.73 | 7.61 | 8 | Ship Terminal | No entrance ramps; no southbound access to 59th Street; exit number not signed southbound; all trucks must exit | |
Southern end of freeway section | |||||
Bronx | NY 9A continues north; southern terminus of Henry Hudson Parkway | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
See also
- West Side Highway pedestrian bridges, a group of pedestrian bridges that cross the highway
References
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