List of unused highways in New York

An unused highway may reference a highway or highway ramp that was partially or fully constructed but was unused^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} or later closed^[10][11][12]. An unused ramp can be referred to as a stub ramp^[13], stub street^[2][14][15], stub-out^[2], or simply stub^[16][17]. The following is a list:

Contents 1 New York 1.1 Albany 1.2 Buffalo 1.3 Niagara Falls 1.4 Staten Island 1.5 Long Island 1.6 Queens 1.7 Manhattan 1.8 Springville 1.9 Syracuse 2 References

New York

Albany

• The cancellation of the South Mall Expressway (U.S. Route 9 and U.S. Route 20) project east of the Dunn Memorial Bridge^[18] resulted in a stub end at the east end of the bridge. [19] It was to extend to Interstate 90 and be exit 8, where more stubs for a proposed interchange existed^[19]. [20] Exit 8 has since been rebuilt as a trumpet interchange as an extension of New York State Route 43. [21] The west end of the Expressway abruptly ends at the Empire State Plaza, where there is a stub in the wide median. [22] It would have extended to an interchange under or adjacent to Washington Park with another cancelled freeway, the Mid-Crosstown Arterial^[20].

• The Mid-Crosstown Arterial was to run from Interstate 787 to Interstate 90, carrying U.S. Route 9W from I-787 to the proposed Washington Park interchange with the South Mall Expressway and U.S. Route 9 from there to I-90^[20]. [23] There is a stub of this freeway on U.S. 9 just south of its interchange with I-90.

• Another set of ramp stubs on Interstate 90 north of downtown were built for cancelled Interstate 687. [24] They have since been reused as an entrance for a business park (Corporate Woods Boulevard). ^[21]. [25].

Buffalo

• Interstate 990 was planned in the 1960s to at least reach Lockport and was even rumored to be part of a Niagara Falls to Rochester freeway but instead ends at New York State Route 263. I-990 initially terminated at N French Road and was extended to its current terminus at the end of 1990, though it was not officially labeled I-990 until 1993. At New York 263, there is an eastbound mainline stub extending from what was to be an exit there^[22]. [26] There is also a visible remnant of what was built in Lockport and was to be a bypass of that city. The road, actually termed the Lockport Bypass and signed as New York State Route 93, is about one mile (1.6 km) long and is only a shadow of what it was planned to be^[23]. [27]

Niagara Falls

• The Robert Moses Parkway is interrupted through Niagara Falls State Park. [28] North of the park, the road has been turned into a two-lane expressway by replacing the southbound roadway with a bikeway^[24].

• There were plans at one time for the "Outer Beltway" of the greater Buffalo area and it was to be signed Interstate 890. This beltway did not make it to full fruition but parts do exist as the Mile Strip Expressway (New York State Route 179) and as the LaSalle Expressway, where there are stubs for a continuation past Williams Road^[25] [29]

Staten Island

• The full route of the Korean War Veterans Parkway, formerly known as the Richmond Parkway, has yet to be completed. The northern terminus ends just short of Arthur Kill Road at Wainwright Avenue. Beyond this, however, is a long stub that extends over Richmond Avenue. There is also a vestigial overhead sign on the unused southbound lanes for the Arden Avenue exit. [30] At the north end of the unbuilt section, near the Todt Hill Road exit of the Staten Island Expressway, is a fully built 3-way interchange showing exactly where the Parkway was originally intended to end^[26]. [31]

• Where the New York State Route 440 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway), formerly the Willowbrook Expressway, ends at Victory Boulevard, stubs point south for a never-built section of the road that would have ended at the South Shore^[27]. [32]

• The West Shore Expressway ends on the Korean War Veterans Parkway, although the interchange is designed as a full 4-way interchange. This was to have connected to the never built Shore Front Drive^[28]. [33]

Long Island

• At the eastern terminus of the Interstate 495/Long Island Expressway in Riverhead, there are stub ramps for a continuation of the expressway northward across the Long Island Sound, and even space for an Old Country Road to I-495 north cloverleaf ramp^[29]. [34]

• New York State Route 135 has stubs at both the northern and southern ends. At the northern terminus of New York 135, there is an incomplete cloverleaf interchange with New York State Route 25. New York 135 was to continue north to Interstate 95 in Port Chester via a bridge over Long Island Sound. [35] At the southern end, stubs are visible that would have connected to the Wantagh Parkway. Lots emptied in anticipation of the road are also visible but the right of way has been since sold back to Nassau County to develop as a multi-use trail^[30]. [36]

Queens

• On the ramp from Belt Parkway westbound to John F. Kennedy International Airport, there is a ramp stub where there would have been a connection to the westbound Nassau Expressway, proposed Interstate 78. Only the eastbound side was built west of the airport access road (JFK Expressway), though, as New York State Route 878 (secret Interstate 878)^[31]. [37]

• The Clearview Expressway (Interstate 295) abruptly ends right after the Grand Central Parkway at a traffic light with Hillside Avenue. Past plans called for the Clearview to go south to John F. Kennedy International Airport^[32]. [38]

• The Pulaski Bridge has a stub ramp leading off the Queens-bound lanes that appears to have been intended to link with the Long Island Expressway. [39]

Manhattan

• In Upper Manhattan, construction of the Trans-Manhattan Expressway (Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1) at the Alexander Hamilton Bridge demolished a ramp from eastbound W 178th St. to southbound Harlem River Drive. This left a stub ramp on Harlem River Drive and an old roadbed from 178th. The new Expressway also led to demolition of the ventilation buildings for the 178th and 179th Street Tunnels, rendering them useless for traffic. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey now uses the tunnels for storage^[33]. [40]
• On the Manhattan Bridge, there is an abandoned roadbed in the median of the bridge on the Manhattan side. This was to be part of the Lower Manhattan Expressway (proposed Interstate 478). In the 1960s, the Manhattan Bridge had been assigned the I-478 designation, which was removed in 1971.^[34][35][41]

Springville

• The Southern Expressway (U.S. Route 219) heading south ends abruptly. Southbound traffic to the end of the expressway was merged to one lane, then forced onto the exit ramp, even while pavement for what was supposed to lead to a twin bridge over New York State Route 39 continues on for about 100 feet (30 m), ending at the edge of the built-up dirt embankment which was to be the bridge abutment. The northbound side is the same way - a distance of unused road leading to the point where the entrance ramp from New York State Route 39 comes in. Construction was to have started in 2007 to extend the route 4.2 miles (6.8 km) south to Peters Road in Ashford^[36]. Future plans call for the expressway to be extended another 28 miles (45 km) to Interstate 86/New York State Route 17 in Salamanca^[37]. [42]

Syracuse

• The freeway portion of New York State Route 5 in the Syracuse suburbs indicates there were plans to make the freeway section longer than it currently is. At the western freeway end, New York State Route 5 intersects New York State Route 174 (West Genesee Turnpike). Entering westbound traffic takes an unnecessary loop ramp and eastbound traffic veers from the mainline as an exit would. There are small mainline stubs for both directions and grading all the way west to the overpass over New York State Route 174. [43] The eastbound end was planned to continue to Seymour and Shonnard Streets, via the current Grand Avenue and would have intersected Interstate 81 via another unbuilt roadway^[38]. It instead intersets West Genesee Street as it leaves the mainline heading to and from both directions, leaving a wide median. There is currently a power substation in the right of way. [44]

• Interstate 690 has been planned to extend to Manlius or to the far east suburb of Chittenango as New York State Route 5^[38] but currently ends in a expansive interchange with Interstate 481. There are three unused ramps that are fully intact: One was to be the continuation of the freeway eastward, another as the extension merging with the current I-481 northbound to I-690 westbound (both lead to/from a service yard), and the other is a loop ramp that was for the traffic from the extension to head south on I-481. [45]

References

Lists of unused highways in the United States by political division States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federal district Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) Insular areas American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands