Harlem River Drive
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The Harlem River Drive is a major freeway-standard parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs along the Harlem River from the Triborough Bridge to the George Washington Bridge and points further north in Manhattan. In 2003, the New York State Department of Transportation re-designated the parkway as the "369th Harlem Hellfighters Drive," in honor of the all-black regiment that fought to defend France during World War I.
The Drive originated as the Harlem River Speedway, which attracted horse owners, and later, car drivers, who could ride and race along the stretch of road. The dirt roadway stretched two and one-half miles from West 155th Street to West 208th Street.
Robert Moses envisioned the Harlem River Drive as a six-lane road linking the George Washington Bridge and the East River Drive (now the FDR Drive) north of East 125th Street. Traffic from the Triborough Bridge and the several Harlem River bridges joining the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx feed into the Drive. Sections of the old speedway in the path of the highway were incorporated into the new highway. Construction ended in 1964. The route as it stands today is unsigned New York State Reference Route 907P.
A four-lane viaduct rises from the Harlem River Drive to connect to both decks of the George Washington Bridge (via the Trans-Manhattan Expressway and to Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The Harlem River Drive continues north to the Inwood section of Manhattan, where it ends with connections to Tenth Avenue and Dyckman Street.
| New York City parkways | |
| Manhattan | FDR East River Drive - Harlem River Drive - Henry Hudson |
| The Bronx | Bronx River - Henry Hudson - Hutchinson River - Mosholu - Pelham |
| Brooklyn-Queens | Belt Parkway system: Cross Island - Laurelton - Shore - Southern Others: Grand Central - Jackie Robinson (Interborough) Former: Gowanus - Whitestone - Long Island Motor Parkway |
| Staten Island | Korean War Veterans (Richmond) Former: Willowbrook Proposed: Wolfe's Pond |
