New York State Route 878 (NY 878) is an expressway on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

state. The route exists in two sections, which both form the Nassau Expressway. NY 878's western terminus is the

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of controlled-access highway, controlled-access Parkways in New York, parkways that form a belt-like circle around the Borough (New York City), New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt ...

and

Conduit Avenue Conduit Avenue (Conduit Boulevard in Brooklyn) is an arterial road in New York City, the vast majority of which is in Queens. The divided highway runs from Atlantic Avenue (New York City), Atlantic Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn to Hook ...

( NY 27) in

Ozone Park Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts W ...

, within southern

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Its southern terminus is at the

Atlantic Beach Bridge The Atlantic Beach Bridge is a long toll drawbridge across the west end of the Reynonds Channel, connecting NY 878 in Lawrence with Park Street in Atlantic Beach, in Nassau County, New York, United States. The bridge also provides direct ...

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, 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 Rockaway Boulevard is a major road in the New York City borough of Queens. Unlike the similarly named Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Rockaway Freeway, it serves mainland Queens and does not enter the Rockaways. Route description It begins as ...

and Rockaway Turnpike. NY 878 is maintained in part by the

New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...

(NYCDOT); the

New York State Department of Transportation 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 sys ...

(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 of NY 878 between I-678 and the

JFK Expressway The JFK Expressway is a freeway connecting the Belt Parkway with John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York City. It interchanges with the Nassau Expressway ( New York State Route 878) near the originally proposed southern ...

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 A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

between the

in Queens and

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

in Nassau. The expressway was supposed to replace Rockaway Boulevard and Turnpike in the vicinity of what is now

JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...

, 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 Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States that runs from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and North Jersey, terminating at the Holland Tunnel entra ...

(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. An attempt to complete the section of the freeway in Queens was deferred due to the early 1990s economic recession.

Route description

Northern segment

Cross Bay Bl Conduit Av td 08 - Nassau Expressway

The northwest section in

is mostly built to

standards, except for a traffic light at the eastern end of the highway. It lies along the north edge of

, just south of the

and

( NY 27). Officially NY 878 starts at the

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

between the Belt Parkway, Conduit Avenue (NY 27) and

Cross Bay Boulevard Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central portion of Queens. South ...

, and it stretches east to the intersection of Rockaway and Farmers Boulevards. The eastbound freeway does begin in the

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

of Conduit Avenue just west of Cross Bay Boulevard, but it carries NY 27 until the highways split at a point between the

IND Rockaway Line The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. At its s ...

underpass and Lefferts Boulevard. The separate NY 878 begins at that split, but the route only carries eastbound

one-way traffic One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typicall ...

until it reaches the junction with I-678 (

Van Wyck Expressway A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or p ...

). There it becomes a two-way

. NY 878 continues east past the

, and becomes an expressway at a traffic light at North Hangar Road. NY 878 ends soon after at Rockaway Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard. The stretch from I-678 (

) east to the

is designated but not signed as I-878 by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

. This makes I-878 the shortest three-digit Interstate Route and the shortest Interstate Highway in the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

. This section of NY 878 only has route designations for the eastbound lanes. The

(NYSDOT) designates I-878 as the stretch of NY 878 from the Van Wyck Expressway east to the 150th Street underpass. The entire segment, including the unsigned I-878, is maintained by the NYSDOT.

in Queens, as well as Rockaway Turnpike in Nassau County, connect the two halves of NY 878. From the end of NY 878 to near Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, the road is maintained by the

(NYCDOT). From Guy R. Brewer Boulevard to just before the city line, the road is designated as the unsigned state reference route NY 909G. The last before the city border are city-maintained. The part of Rockaway Turnpike that connects to NY 878 is maintained by Nassau County.

Southern segment

The southeast section of NY 878 is an at-grade expressway, with only two bridges grade-separating the highway from intersecting routes – over the

Far Rockaway Branch The Far Rockaway Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station. From Valley Stream, ...

of the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...

, and under Seagirt Boulevard at a

trumpet 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 ...

. Signage for NY 878 can be seen from the split with Rockaway Turnpike south to the

toll plaza A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenan ...

of the

. However, the NYSDOT only considers a 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. The segment from Rockaway Turnpike to Burnside Avenue is maintained by the highway. The southern section of NY 878 has no connections to other state routes.

History

Predecessors and planning

The portion of Rockaway Boulevard and Turnpike between NY 27 and the

was originally designated as

New York State Route 104 New York State Route 104 (NY 104) is a east–west state highway in Upstate New York in the United States. It spans six counties and enters the vicinity of four cities—Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and Oswego—as it foll ...

by 1931. However, this designation was removed by 1932. The expressway was first proposed in late 1945, 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 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. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influentia ...

Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), doing business as MTA Bridges and Tunnels, is an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that operates seven toll bridges and two tunnels in New York City. The TBTA is th ...

(TBTA), and the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

. By 1949, the Nassau Expressway was planned along with a replacement for the original

. It was envisioned by Moses and Nassau County executive

J. Russell Sprague John Russell Sprague (December 24, 1886 – April 17, 1969) was the Republican county executive of Nassau County, New York from 1938 until 1953. He also was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, and 1 ...

as a vital link between Atlantic Beach, the

system, and the

Bronx–Whitestone Bridge The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge (colloquially referred to as the Whitestone Bridge or simply the Whitestone) is a suspension bridge in New York City, carrying six lanes of Interstate 678 over the East River. The bridge connects Throggs Neck a ...

. A contract for preliminary engineering work was awarded that year. As originally proposed, the highway would have only extended from the interchange with Van Wyck Expressway and Belt Parkway to the Atlantic Beach Bridge. 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

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 The Five Towns is an informal grouping of villages and hamlets in Nassau County, United States on the South Shore of western Long Island adjoining the border with Queens County in New York City. Although there is no official Five Towns desi ...

. This route was favored as a replacement to Rockaway Boulevard/Turnpike, which was viewed as inadequate and congested. A map of the expressway was presented to the Nassau residents in 1951. Three years later, the state made the first land acquisitions for the Nassau segment of the expressway. 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

and Lido Beach, ending at a junction with the

Loop Parkway The Loop Parkway (also known as the Loop) is a controlled-access parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It serves the barrier islands south of Long Island itself, beginning on Long Beach Barrier Island at an intersection wi ...

leading to Jones Beach and the

Meadowbrook State Parkway The Meadowbrook State Parkway (also known as the Meadowbrook, the Meadowbrook Parkway, Meadowbrook Causeway, or the MSP) is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access Parkways in New York, parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United S ...

. The Long Beach Expressway would have been a six-lane expressway, running along

Reynolds Channel Reynolds Channel is a strait in Nassau County, New York that separates Long Beach Barrier Island, which contains the City of Long Beach and the villages of Atlantic Beach, Lido Beach, and Point Lookout, from Long Island, Barnum Island, Harb ...

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. The Nassau Expressway was mapped as part of the

in 1961. At that point, the

New York State Department of Public Works The office of Superintendent of Public Works was created by an 1876 amendment to the New York State Constitution. It abolished the Erie Canal Commission, canal commissioners and established that the Department of Public Works execute all laws relat ...

began purchasing land for both the Nassau and Long Beach Expressways. Over of land were ceded from Idlewild Park near JFK Airport for the construction of the expressway. 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. Many homes in Inwood were either condemned and demolished or relocated in order to facilitate the expressway. 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. The Long Beach Expressway was vetoed by the state in 1967 due to community opposition.

Construction and delays

The first section of the Nassau Expressway to be built was a eastbound-only segment between

and 150th Street. The eastbound lanes ended at a point near

. The Nassau Expressway intersected with the Van Wyck Expressway at JFK Airport. The construction of this section was approved by the

New York City Planning Commission The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, ...

and

New York City Board of Estimate The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments eff ...

in 1963, and work began in 1965. The new roadway was completed in either 1967 or 1971. The construction of the highway's eastbound lanes drastically reduced congestion and increased average traffic speeds for drivers traveling eastbound on South

and the Nassau Expressway. Westbound drivers on North Conduit Avenue continued to experience 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. Construction along Rockaway Boulevard and in Nassau County was hindered due to the presence of

muck Muck most often refers to: *Muck (soil), a soil made up primarily of humus from drained swampland Muck may also refer to: Places Europe * Muck, Scotland, an island * Isle of Muck, County Antrim, a small island connected by sand spit to Portmuck ...

, 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. The wetlands had previously been used as a garbage landfill by the

New York City Department of Sanitation The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal. The DSNY is the primary operator of the New York ...

. 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. In March 1971, Governor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

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 The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952 authorized $550 million for the Interstate Highway System on a 50–50 matching basis, meaning the federal government paid 50% of the cost of building and maintaining the interstate while each individual st ...

, in which the federal government would pay 90% of the proposed highway's cost. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' quoted a state official who said that this move had the effect of canceling these projects. By that time, less than a quarter of the proposed $51.8 million, 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. Maps from the 1970s show that the connector between the Van Wyck and Rockaway Boulevard had yet to be constructed. 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. By around late 1973, work on the project restarted. Builders sought funds from the

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 (Public Law 93–87; 87 Stat. 250) is legislation enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law on August 13, 1973, which provided funding for existing interstate and new urban and rural primary an ...

to pay for construction. At that time, plans called for the completion of the highway's westbound lanes west of 150th Street, as well as the sections of the freeway along Rockaway Boulevard and in Nassau County. Rockaway Boulevard would have also been relocated and modernized. However, the federal government refused to approve the funding, and the money was instead distributed among projects in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. This further delayed the construction of the Nassau Expressway. By then, the unbuilt segment in Nassau was called the "phantom expressway" because it had been in the planning stages for decades. The

right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

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. In 1976, New York Governor

Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney of the Democratic Party who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1974 and as the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. Early ...

announced the publication of the

(NYSDOT)'s five-year, $212 million highway improvement plan. This proposal included completing much of the rest of the Nassau Expressway. Three years later, the NYSDOT published plans for the segment of the expressway that would be built in Nassau. 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. This section was opened in March 1990. 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 Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack within ...

. Work on the expressway project was to begin in 1998. 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. In 1998, Nassau County legislator

Bruce A. Blakeman Bruce Arthur Blakeman (born October 2, 1955) is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the 10th County Executive of Nassau County, New York. He was elected in the 2021 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Laura Curran. He ...

proposed renaming the southern portion of NY 878 after President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. Originally, he wanted that name applied to the

Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway New York State Route 135 (NY 135) is a freeway in eastern Nassau County, New York, in the United States. The route connects Seaford with Syosset. The highway runs from Merrick Road (unsigned County Route 27 or CR 27) in ...

(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. 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.

Designation history

From circa 1959 until 1970, the I-878 designation was used for a section of what is now

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 Yo ...

(

Bruckner Expressway The Bruckner Expressway is a freeway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It carries Interstate 278 and Interstate 95 from the Triborough Bridge to the south end of the New England Thruway at the Pelham Parkway interchange. Th ...

) between Sheridan Boulevard (formerly the Sheridan Expressway) and the

Cross Bronx Expressway The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major controlled-access highway, freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 in New York, Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of Interstate ...

(

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

) in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. I-278 was routed north on the Sheridan, while its present route was taken by I-878. At that time, the northwest piece of present NY 878 was to be part of I-78, which would have continued from the

Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects Hudson Square and Lower Manhattan in New York City in the east to Jersey City, New Jersey, in the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Authority of New York an ...

along the

Lower Manhattan Expressway Interstate 78 (I-78) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to New York City. In the US state of New York, I-78 extends . The entirety of I-78 consists of the Holland Tunne ...

Williamsburg Bridge The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge across the East River in New York City, connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Originally known as the East River Bridge, the Williamsburg Brid ...

and Bushwick Expressway to reach the Nassau Expressway at

. Northeast of

Kennedy Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...

, I-78 was to turn north onto the

Clearview Expressway Clearview or clear view may refer to: Entertainment * ''Clearview'' (album), the seventh studio album by the Finnish rock band Poets of the Fall Companies * Clearview AI, a facial recognition company * Clearview Cinemas, a chain of movie the ...

, using the

Throgs Neck Bridge The Throgs Neck Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City, carrying six lanes of Interstate 295 (New York), Interstate 295 (I-295) over the East River where it meets the Long Island Sound. The bridge connects the Throggs Neck section of t ...

and

to end at the

Bruckner Interchange The Bruckner Interchange is a complex interchange in the New York City borough of The Bronx in the United States. The junction connects four highways: the Bruckner, Cross Bronx, and Hutchinson River Expressways, and the Hutchinson River Parkwa ...

. * Note that I-95 is shown on the

Hutchinson River Parkway The Hutchinson River Parkway (known colloquially as the Hutch) is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access Parkways in New York, parkway in southern New York (state), New York in the United States. It extends for from the Bruckner Interc ...

north of the

, but the 1955 "Yellow Book" map shows the I-78 route on the

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

was built in 1967, when the highway was still part of I-78. I-78 through New York City was canceled in March 1971. Effective January 1, 1970, the year before, the Nassau Expressway and unbuilt Cross Brooklyn Expressway, stretching from

at the

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ; also referred to as the Narrows Bridge, the Verrazzano Bridge, and simply the Verrazzano) is a suspension bridge connecting the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It spans ...

east to the

, was officially designated I-878 by the NYSDOT. The Nassau Expressway was redesignated as NY 878 by 1991. Until 2005, the southern terminus of the southern portion of NY 878 was at Meadow Causeway. At the time, the portion of the Nassau Expressway from Meadow Causeway to the Seagirt Boulevard interchange was maintained by Nassau County while the section between the Seagirt Boulevard interchange and the Atlantic Beach Bridge toll barrier was maintained by the NYSDOT as NY 900V, a long reference route. 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. The NY 900V designation, now redundant to NY 878, was removed by October 2007.

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. * For images of the signage, use

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expa ...

References

External links

NY 878 (Greater New York Roads)
{{JFK Airport Interstate 78

878 __NOTOC__ Year 878 ( DCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March–April – Wilfred the Hairy (ruler of the Catalan counties) with other supporters of Louis the St ...

Roads on Long Island Transportation in Nassau County, New York Expressways in New York City *878 Transportation in Queens, New York Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States