Bear Mountain State Parkway
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| Bear Mountain State Parkway |
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| Reference Route 987H | |||||
| Length: | 4.58 mi[1] (7.37 km) | ||||
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| Formed: | 1932 | ||||
| West end: |    US Highways 6, 9, and 202 in Peekskill |
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| East end: |  Taconic State Parkway in Yorktown |
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| Counties: | Westchester | ||||
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The Bear Mountain State Parkway is a part of the New York State highway system. It was built in 1932 but, unlike most other parkways in Westchester County, New York, it has barely been constructed upon since. It currently stands as an incomplete highway, with a western portion of about 3.8 miles and an eastern section of about 0.9 miles. Crompond Road (US 202/NY 35) provides a connection between the two segments. The road is unsigned New York State Reference Route 987H, but some old maps show it signed as NY-821.
The initial reason for the Bear Mountain Parkway was to connect the Taconic State Parkway (or then, the Bronx River Parkway Extension), to the Bear Mountain Bridge. At that time, the Tappan Zee Bridge had not been constructed, and the Bear Mountain Bridge was an extremely important crossing of the Hudson River for Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Orange County residents. Today, due to the popularity of the Tappan Zee, and the traffic issues caused by the two-lane roads descending from the Bear Mountain Bridge, the bridge is not a popular Hudson River crossing, and consequently, the Bear Mountain Parkway was never finished. Talks of its completion resurfaced in 2000, but because the Yorktown area is much more populated than it was in the 1930s, its completion seems nearly impossible.
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[edit] Route Description
From its western terminus at the junction of US Routes 6, 9 and 202 south of Annsville creek in Peekskill, the Bear Mountain State Parkway goes east through the north side of Peekskill as a 2 lane undivided roadway. Becoming 4 undivided lanes after crossing N. Division Street about a mile later, with a mix of grade crossings and interchanges. Along with a traffic light just before entering Cortlandt. Little changed from as it was originally built.
About 3-1/2 miles along its length, US 202/NY 35 is reached and parkway merges to run concurrent with those routes. Here the parkway becomes a 2 lane undivided arterial road. Entering Yorktown about 1/2 mile later.
Another mile or so later, it leaves US 202/NY 35. At this point, eastbound drivers wishing to travel northbound on the Taconic should remain on US 202/NY 35. After the parkway splits from the concurrency, it soon reaches its eastern terminus at an interchange with the Taconic State Parkway in Yorktown.
[edit] Communities along the route
[edit] Major intersections
| County | Location | Mile | Road(s) | Notes |
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| Westchester | Peekskill | 0 |  US 6 US 9 US 202 |
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| Cortlandt | 2.94 | US 6 |
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| 3.85 | US 202 NY 35 |
Limited access roadway ends | ||
| Yorktown | US 202 NY 35 |
Limited access roadway begins | ||
| 4.85 | Taconic State Parkway |
Westbound can only travel Taconic southbound, remain on US 202/NY 35 for northbound Taconic |
| Legend | |||||
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| Crossing, no access | Concurrency termini | Decommissioned | Unconstructed | Closed | |
[edit] History
Originally proposed by Robert Moses, the Bear Mountain State Parkway was built between 1929 and 1932 by the Westchester County Parks Commission as part of an extension to the Bronx River Parkway. It was intended to provide a quick, scenic trip from the Bronx to the Bear Mountain Bridge and Harriman State Park. At that time it was known as the Bronx River Parkway Extension.
In 1941 the Taconic State Park Commission assumed control of the Bronx River extension, and then combined the section between the Bronx River Parkway and the, as it was known then, Eastern State Parkway to create the Taconic State Parkway. The section between the Taconic and Annsville then received the name of Bear Mountain State Parkway.[2]
In 2000, there was an initiative to complete the final missing piece of the Bear Mountain Parkway.[3] Although, most if not all the right-of-way, has already been acquired, the issue not overcome was whether to allow trucks on the parkway.
[edit] References
- ^ NYSDOT Traffic data
- ^ Historic American Engineering Record - Taconic State Parkway, Poughkeepsie vicinity, Dutchess County, NY
- ^ Bear Mountain Sustainable development study Archived website
[edit] External links
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| North-South Parkways: | Bronx River, Hutchinson River, Sprain Brook, Taconic State, Briarcliff-Peekskill, Saw Mill River, Central Westchester |
| East-West Parkways: | Bear Mt. State, Playland, Cross County |
