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A less favored alternative to commuting by rail and boat is the New York region's outdated and congested expressway network, designed by Robert Moses. The city's extensive network of expressways includes four primary Interstate Highways: I-78, I-80, I-87 (also known as the Major Deegan Expressway in the city and the New York State Thruway for points north) and I-95. I-95 is also the New Jersey Turnpike in that state until it crosses the Hudson River at the George Washington Bridge, where it becomes the Cross Bronx Expressway, then the Bruckner Expressway, and finally the New England Thruway before crossing into Connecticut and becoming the Connecticut Turnpike. I-278 serves as a partial beltway around the city, and there are numerous three-digit Interstates of I-78 and I-95. The Long Island Expressway (I-495) begins at the Queens Midtown Tunnel runs through the heart of Queens east into Nassau County and the rest of Long Island. Unlike many other American cities, most New York highways are locally referred to by name rather than number.
Designed earlier by Robert Moses are a series of limited-access parkways. Originally intended to connect New York City to its more-rural suburbs, they have become heavily-used thoroughfares in their own right, despite the fact that they were designed from the outset to carry cars only. The FDR Drive and Harlem River Drive form a route along the eastern shores of Manhattan, the Bronx River Parkway and Hutchinson River Parkway link the Bronx to nearby Westchester County and its parkways, and the Grand Central Parkway and Belt Parkway provide similar functions for Long Island's parkway system. A number of expressways got their start as parkways (including the Whitestone Expressway, the Prospect Expressway which links to Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, and the Gowanus Expressway).
- See also: Transportation in New York City
