New York State Route 440

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NY Route 440
Length: 12.73 mi[1] (20.49 km)
Formed: 1949[2]
South end: NJ 440 in Richmond Valley
Major
junctions:		 Richmond Pkwy in Greenridge
I-278 in Graniteville and Bulls Head
North end: NJ 440 in Port Richmond
Counties: Richmond
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 439A NY 441 >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 440 is a New York state highway located entirely on Staten Island. The route acts as a connector between the two segments of NJ 440, running from the Staten Island community of Richmond Valley to the south to Port Richmond to the north. It is the only other New York state highway besides New York State Route 426 that is the middle section of another state's highway bearing the same number.

Contents

[edit] Route description

The West Shore Expressway, northbound, from Meredith Avenue
The West Shore Expressway, northbound, from Meredith Avenue

NY 440 begins at the Outerbridge Crossing near the southwestern region of the island, where it connects with the Middlesex County segment of NJ 440.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway, southbound, from Walker Street.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway, southbound, from Walker Street.

It traverses the island's largely unpopulated meadowlands along its western flank as a freeway called the West Shore Expressway until it joins with the Staten Island Expressway (Interstate 278) near the northwest corner of the island. There are nine exits between the Outerbridge Crossing and the Staten Island Expressway, if the interchanges with both the Richmond Parkway and the latter are included; however, two of the exits can only be accessed from one direction. The section between the Richmond Parkway and Arthur Kill Road opened in 1972, and the rest of the expressway opened in 1976. The entire expressway spans 7.7 miles (12.4 km) and was ceremonially designated the Pearl Harbor Memorial Expressway by New York State Governor George Pataki in 1999; however, the expressway's official name did not change.

Approximately 1¼ miles (2 km) to the east, it breaks from the Staten Island Expressway and continues northward for another 2.6 miles (4.2 km) as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway until it reaches the Bayonne Bridge. Opened in 1964 under the name Willowbrook Expressway, it was renamed for the slain civil rights leader in 1990. There are three exits in this section, one of which is accessible to southbound traffic only. On the summit of the bridge, it becomes the Hudson County segment of NJ 440.

[edit] History

NY 440 was initially designated in 1949 as a continuation of New Jersey's Route 440.[2] The route began at the Outerbridge Crossing and ended at the Bayonne Bridge, as it does today; however, the route was originally routed on Drumgoole Boulevard and Richmond Avenue in between the two bridges.[3] By 1970, the portion north of Victory Boulevard was rerouted onto the newly-built Willowbrook Expressway.[4]

After Drumgoole Boulevard was transformed into the Richmond Parkway (now the Korean War Veteran's Parkway) in 1972,[5] the parkway continued to carry the 440 designation.[6] However, when the West Shore Expressway was completed in 1976, the designation shifted westward, as it stands today.[2]

Initially, the route was to run south of the Staten Island Expressway for 5 miles (8 km) as the Willowbrook Parkway to Great Kills Park (now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area) on the island's East Shore; however, opposition from both local property owners and environmental activists prevented construction of this spur, although its original route has never been formally demapped.

[edit] Exit list

County Location Mile[1] # Destinations Notes
Outerbridge Crossing; NY 440 continues into New Jersey as Route 440
Richmond Richmond Valley 1 Page Avenue (north), Arthur Kill Road (south)
1.13 2 Korean War Veterans Parkway
Charleston 3 Woodrow Road (north), Bloomingdale Road (south)
Rossville 3.73 4 Arthur Kill Road, Huguenot Avenue
Fresh Kills 5 Muldoon Avenue, Arden Avenue Southbound exit only
Travis 6.37 7 Victory Boulevard Former routing of NY 439A
7.29 8 South Avenue
Bloomfield 9 Glen Street Northbound exit only
9.33 9A I-278 – Elizabeth, Brooklyn NY 440 joins I-278 northbound and leaves southbound
Begin I-278 exit numbering system northbound; resume NY 440 exit numbering system southbound
6 South Avenue Southbound exit and entrance
Graniteville 9.54 7 Richmond Avenue Access via Fahy Avenue northbound
10.24 8 Victory Boulevard Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former routing of NY 439A
Resume NY 440 exit numbering system northbound; begin I-278 exit numbering system southbound
10.43 10 I-278 – Elizabeth, Brooklyn NY 440 leaves I-278 northbound and joins southbound
11 Victory Boulevard Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former routing of NY 439A
11.41 12 Forest Avenue Former routing of NY 439
Elm Park 13 Richmond Terrace Access via Trantor Place northbound and Morningstar Road southbound
Bayonne Bridge; NY 440 continues into New Jersey as Route 440

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Traffic Data Report - NY 427 to NY 908F (PDF). NYSDOT (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
  2. ^ a b c Steve Anderson. State and US Roads in New York City. Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
  3. ^ New York 1960 (Brooklyn-Staten Island). Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
  4. ^ State of New York Department of Transportation (1970-01-01). Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State. Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
  5. ^ National Bridge Inventory, a database compiled by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, available at www.nationalbridges.com. Accessed 2007-11-21.
  6. ^ United States Geological Survey. Arthur Kill, NY-NJ Quadrangle [map], 1:24,000, 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic). (1981)

[edit] External links

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Expressways in New York City
Manhattan-Bronx
Brooklyn-Queens
Staten Island
Staten Island (I-278) - West Shore/MLK (NY 440)