Henry Hudson Parkway

The Henry Hudson Parkway is an 11.05-mile (17.78 km) long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan. The northern terminus is at the Bronx-Westchester County boundary, where it continues north as the Saw Mill River Parkway. All of the parkway is designated New York State Route 907V, an unsigned reference route; however, all but the northernmost mile of the road is also designated as part of the signed New York State Route 9A.

The owners of the parkway are the New York State Department of Transportation, New York City Department of Transportation, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Amtrak, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Henry Hudson Parkway was created by the Henry Hudson Parkway Authority, which was run by "master builder" Robert Moses. The highway itself was constructed from 1934–1937.

Route description

The Henry Hudson Parkway begins at an interchange with West 72nd Street in Riverside Park. It is connected by a short remnant of the Miller Highway to the West Side Highway, heading in a northward direction along the west side of Manhattan. It has a large interchange with West 79th Street, with more intermittent exits onto surface streets along the way. The parkway continues in a northerly direction, running almost parallel to Riverside Drive north of West 158th Street. It passes under I-95 and the George Washington Bridge as it continues its progression through Fort Washington Park, Fort Tryon Park, and Inwood Hill Park. It is in Inwood Hill Park that the parkway meets NY 9A and runs concurrently with it northward across the Henry Hudson Bridge into the Bronx.

Upon entering the Bronx, the parkway passes through Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale as it continues northward, edging slightly to the northeast. At exit 23, NY 9A leaves the parkway for US 9 while the parkway enters Van Cortlandt Park. Soon after it enters the park, the parkway has an interchange with the Mosholu Parkway, which connects it to I-87. Less than a mile further, the parkway merges with the Saw Mill Parkway and terminates at this point.

History

The Parkway was completed on October 12, 1937, under New York master builder Robert Moses. It cost $109 million, twice as expensive as the $49 million Hoover Dam that was built in the same period. The Parkway was part of Moses's "West Side Improvement" and included covering the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line, creating the Freedom Tunnel. The covered portion is partially used for the highway and also expands the Riverside Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.^[1]

On May 12, 2005 part of a retaining wall at Castle Village collapsed onto the northbound lanes of the parkway, just north of the George Washington Bridge, shutting it down shortly before rush hour. The clean-up began quickly, and the road re-opened on May 15.^[3]

Future

The Henry Hudson Parkway is a candidate for designation as a New York State Scenic Byway, the first in New York City. At the request of the Henry Hudson Parkway Task Force, in 2005 the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council approved funding to develop a comprehensive corridor management plan, a requirement for its designation.^[1]

Exit list

References

External links

• Background on the parkway's history and the scenic byway initiative