Grand Central Parkway

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Grand Central Parkway
Reference Route 907M
Length: 14.61 mi[1] (23.51 km)
Formed: 1936[citation needed]
West end: I-278 in Astoria
Major
junctions:
I-495 in Flushing Meadows Park
I-678/Jackie Robinson Pkwy in Kew Gardens
I-295 near Terrace Heights
Cross Island Pkwy in Glen Oaks
East end: Northern Pkwy at Queens-Nassau Co. border
Counties: Queens
Numbered highways in New York
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

The Grand Central Parkway is a parkway that stretches from the Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens-Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, which runs across the northern part of Long Island through Nassau County and into Suffolk County, where it ends in Hauppauge. The westernmost stretch (from the Triborough Bridge to Exit 4) also carries a short stretch of Interstate 278. The parkway runs through Queens and passes the Cross Island Parkway, Long Island Expressway, LaGuardia Airport and Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets. The parkway is designated New York State Reference Route 907M, an unsigned reference route.

The Grand Central Parkway was first planned in 1922, as a connection between Queens Boulevard and Nassau County, helping city dwellers reach Jones Beach more easily. Construction for the Parkway began in 1931, and the parkway was widened in 1961 in preparation for the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

The Grand Central Parkway passes through the Kew Gardens Interchange, where it connects with the Van Wyck Expressway (Interstate 678), Jackie Robinson Parkway, Queens Boulevard (NY-25); and Union Turnpike.

The Grand Central Parkway has a few unique distinctions. First, it is apparently the only parkway in New York City to carry an elliptical black-on-white design for its trailblazer. Parkways throughout The Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island use the state-standard design, while the Belt system parkways use a modified version of the Long Island regional parkway shield with the Montauk Point Lighthouse logo. Second, it is one of the few parkways in the state to allow truck traffic to any extent. The section shared with Interstate 278 allows for small trucks—larger ones still cannot pass under the intentionally-designed low underpasses. They have to travel on Astoria Boulevard, the local service road, to reach the bridge.

[edit] Exit list

County Location Mile[1] # Destinations Notes
Queens Steinway 0.00 45 31st Street, Astoria Boulevard
0.80 4 I-278 west (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) – Verrazano Bridge, Staten Island
East end of I-278 overlap
East Elmhurst 1.34 5 Astoria Boulevard east, 82nd Street - Marine Air Terminal, Terminal A
North Beach 2.26 6 94th Street - Terminal B, parking Westbound exit is part of exit 7
2.51 7 LaGuardia Airport Terminals B, C, and D
3.55 8 111th Street Eastbound exit only
Flushing 3.79 9E I-678 (Whitestone Expressway) / NY 25A east (Northern Boulevard)
9W NY 25A west (Northern Boulevard) Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
9P Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Tennis Center Westbound exit and entrance
5.10 10 I-495 (Long Island Expressway) – Manhattan, Eastern Long Island Signed as exits 10W (west) and 10E (east)
5.94 11 69th Road, Jewel Avenue Signed as exits 11W (west) and 11E (east) westbound
6.50 12 NY 25 (Queens Boulevard) / 78th Avenue Eastbound exit only
Kew Gardens 13W Jackie Robinson Parkway west - Brooklyn
7.19 13 I-678 south (Van Wyck Expressway) – Kennedy Airport Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
7.53 14 Union Turnpike, Main Street Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
15 NY 25 west (Queens Boulevard) / Union Turnpike Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Jamaica 8.11 16 Parsons Boulevard, 164th Street Eastbound exit only
17 168th Street Westbound exit only
9.13 18 Utopia Parkway No westbound exit
Hollis 9.83 19 188th Street
Queens Village 10.57
10.86
20 Francis Lewis Boulevard Signed as exits 20B (south) and 20A (north)
11.10 21S-N I-295 north (Clearview Expressway) / NY 25 (Hillside Avenue) to I-495Throgs Neck Bridge
11.93 22 Union Turnpike Westbound exit is part of exit 23
12.56 23S-N To I-495 / Cross Island Parkway, Winchester Boulevard – Alley Park
Glen Oaks 13.67 24 Little Neck Parkway
East end of Grand Central Parkway at milepost 14.61; west end of Northern State Parkway

[edit] References

[edit] External links