Victory Boulevard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Victory Boulevard
Length: 8.06 mi[1] (12.97 km)
Former NY 439A: 4.42 miles (7.11 km)[1]
Formed: 1816[2]
West end: Dead end at Arthur Kill in Travis
Major
junctions:		 NY 440 in Travis
I-278 in Willowbrook
East end: Bay Street in St. George
Counties: Richmond
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 439 NY 439A NY 440 >
Spur of NY 439
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

Victory Boulevard is a major thoroughfare on Staten Island, measuring approximately 8.0 miles (12.87 km) and stretching from the west shore community of Travis to the upper east shore communities of St. George and Tompkinsville. Until 1972, Victory Boulevard was designated New York State Route 439A for much of its run until it intersected Forest Avenue, wherein it carried the 439 designation for .75 mile.[3]

Contents

[edit] Route description

The street follows a path similar to the Staten Island Expressway, an integral Staten Island traffic route. Both roadways intersect Clove Road, Slosson Avenue, Todt Hill Road, Bradley Avenue, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway, Richmond Avenue and the West Shore Expressway, as well as each other. Forest Avenue, too, is intersected by both roads; however, Forest and the Staten Island Expressway are on the opposite extremities of the island.

Incidentally, the boulevard is the only street on Staten Island that interchanges with three different expressways. It is exit 7 for the West Shore Expressway, exit 10 for the Staten Island Expressway westbound (exit 8 eastbound) and exit 11 for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway.

Victory Boulevard exit on the Staten Island Expressway
Victory Boulevard exit on the Staten Island Expressway

A number of prominent Staten Island sites and events are located along Victory Boulevard. Among these are the Travis Independence Day Parade, the Sylvan Grove Cemetery, the Mid-Island Little League field and CSI (College of Staten Island), formerly the Willowbrook State School. The Bulls' Head Tavern, a pub known for its Tory meetings during the American Revolution, also stood on Victory Boulevard, on the corner with Richmond Avenue.

[edit] History

Victory Boulevard was established in 1816 by the Richmond Turnpike Company as the Richmond Turnpike. The toll road was owned by Daniel D. Tompkins, a prominent Staten Islander who, a year later, became Vice President of the United States. The route was "promoted as the fastest...from New York to Philadelphia."[2] Ferries from Manhattan and Brooklyn would dock at the eastern end of the turnpike, at Bay Street. Horse-drawn carriages would carry passengers to Travis, known at the time as Long Neck or the New Blazing Star Ferry, wherein a ferry would carry people over the Arthur Kill to Woodbridge Township, New Jersey.

After World War I, the Richmond Turnpike was renamed Victory Boulevard in honor of the allied victory in the war.

The segment of Victory Boulevard from Richmond Avenue (then-NY 440) in Bulls Head to Forest Avenue (then-NY 439) in Tompkinsville was designated as NY 439A by 1952. Past Forest Avenue, Victory Boulevard was designated as part of NY 439 up to Bay Street.[4] Both designations were removed from Victory Boulevard by the late 1960s.[5][6]

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Richmond Travis 0.00 Dead end at Arthur Kill
0.58 NY 440 (West Shore Expressway) Exit 7 (NY 440)
Willowbrook 2.66 Richmond Avenue Former routing of NY 440; former western terminus of NY 439A
3.31 I-278 (Staten Island Expressway) Exits 8 and 10 (I-278)
Tompkinsville 7.08 Forest Avenue Former routing of NY 439; former eastern terminus of NY 439A
St. George 8.06 Bay Street

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c National Highway Planning Network GIS data. FHWA (version 2005.08). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
  2. ^ a b New York Public Library Staten Island Timeline, accessed August 19, 2006
  3. ^ New York State Routes, accessed August 19, 2006
  4. ^ Sunoco. New York [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. (1952)
  5. ^ H.M. Gousha Company. Gousha Road Atlas - New York and vicinity [map]. (1967) Retrieved on 2008-02-29.
  6. ^ State of New York Department of Transportation (1970-01-01). Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.