Interstate 487

Interstate 487 (I-487) was a proposed intrastate Interstate Highway in New York that was to run from The Bronx to Beacon. After much resident opposition, the highway was cancelled in the 1960s.

History

Interstate 487, named the Hudson River Expressway, was an idea dating back to the 1920s. It was originally planned as a parkway, but the $55 million price tag for a 30-mile (48 km) stretch of road cancelled the idea . In 1936, the Regional Plan Association proposed an expressway from The Bronx to Albany. This route would parallel US-9 but was cancelled by World War II. The New York State Department of Public Works (now the New York State Department of Transportation) proposed a 30-mile (48 km) long expressway in 1952. This route would begin at Interstate 87/I-287 interchange in Tarrytown and end at I-84 in Beacon.^[1]

Then, in May 1965, Governor Rockefeller introduced the Hudson River Expressway (HRE), a 47-mile (76 km) long expressway on the east side of the Hudson River from Interstate 87 (Major Deegan Expressway) in The Bronx to I-84 in Beacon.^[2] Its parent route, I-87, led to the I-487 designation. However, resident opposition led Rockefeller to cancel the section between The Bronx and Tarrytown in August of the same year. Two years later, the Peekskill-Beacon section was also cancelled, leaving only the 10.4-mile (16.7 km) section between Ossining and Tarrytown. This section of roadway, proposed as NY 399, was eventually cancelled as well. The only part of the HRE that was completed was the Croton Expressway (US 9) from Ossining to Peekskill.^[1] By November 20, 1971, Rockefeller declared the Hudson River Expressway proposal dead.^[3]

A 69-mile West Dutchess Expressway from Poughkeepsie to Tarrytown was proposed in the 1970s using the I-487 designation, but it was denied.^[1]

References