Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive

Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive
Map of New York City with Franklin D. Roosevelt East River (FDR) Drive highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and NYCDOT
Length:	9.44 mi[1] (15.19 km)
Existed:	1955[2] – present
History:	Upgraded in 1966[2]
Major junctions
South end:	NY 9A (West Street) in Battery Park
	I-495 (Midtown Tunnel) in Murray Hill NY 25 (Queensboro Bridge) in Sutton Place
North end:	Harlem River Drive in East Harlem
Location
Counties:	New York
Highway system
Numbered highways in New York Interstate U.S. N.Y. (former) Reference County

The FDR Drive (officially referred to as the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, and sometimes known as the FDR) is a 9.44-mile (15.19 km) freeway-standard parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts just north of the Battery Park Underpass at South and Broad Streets and runs along the entire length of the East River, from the Battery Park Underpass under Battery Park – north of which it is the South Street Viaduct – north to 125th Street / Triborough Bridge exit, where it becomes the Harlem River Drive. All of the FDR Drive is designated New York State Route 907L (NY 907L), an unsigned reference route.

The highway is mostly three lanes in each direction, with the exception of a small section underneath the Brooklyn Bridge where it is one lane southbound and one lane northbound. A section between the Queensboro Bridge/60/61st Street interchange is also narrowed to two lanes. By law, the current weight limits on the FDR Drive from 23rd Street to the Harlem River Drive in both directions is posted 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg). Buses are not allowed to use the roadway north of 23rd Street, because of clearance and weight issues. All commercial vehicles (including trucks) are banned from all sections of the FDR Drive.^[3] The FDR Drive features a mix of below-grade, at-grade, and elevated sections, as well as three partially covered tunnels.

Route description

FDR Drive approaching Brooklyn Bridge

The FDR Drive starts at the southern tip at South and Broad streets and becomes elevated to a point between Jackson Street and Gouverneur Slip, near the Manhattan Bridge exit. From there it is at street level, until it passes underneath the Houston Street overpass, then continues at grade. Once past the 18th Street curve, it becomes elevated briefly until 25th Street. At 30th Street the southbound roadway again becomes elevated; the northbound roadway is at street level when passing through Waterside Plaza between 23rd and 34th streets, then realigns with the southbound roadway above ground.

The roadway quickly dips onto street level after passing 42nd Street, the southbound roadway is inside a later structure resembling a tunnel while the northbound roadway appears to be on the outside of the tunnel. This is due to the construction of the United Nations Headquarters on a platform above the FDR which is at grade. From 51st to 63rd streets, in this tunnel, the southbound roadway is raised and runs over the northbound roadway, for access to the northbound exit/entrance to Queensboro Bridge. North of 63rd Street, the roadways become level and run underneath the pilotis of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, while remaining at grade.

FDR Drive at night

From 79th to 90th streets runs a final enclosed, at-grade portion; the southbound roadway is again raised over the northbound roadway in a short segment of the tunnel. The promenade of Carl Schurz Park was built over the highway, near Gracie Mansion. Except for a short elevation over the 96th Street interchange, the remaining portion of the roadway from this tunnel to the 125th Street interchange is at grade.

The East River Greenway runs below, beside or above the motor road, except between 34th and 63rd streets. A plaque dedicating the East River Drive is visible on the southbound roadway before entering the Gracie Mansion tunnel at 90th Street.

History

Looking north from 6th Street overpass

Originally named East River Drive, FDR Drive was later renamed after Franklin Delano Roosevelt.^[4] The roadway was designed by Robert Moses. He faced the difficulties of building a parkway/boulevard combination along the East River while minimizing disruptions to residents. The section from 125th Street to 92nd Street is the original 1934 construction, while sections from 92nd Street down to Battery Park (with the exception of a section from 42nd to 49th streets) were built as a boulevard, an arterial highway running at street level. Future reconstruction designs from 1948 to 1966 converted FDR Drive into the full parkway that is in use today.^[5]

The section of highway from 23rd Street to 34th Street was built on wartime rubble dumped by cargo ships returning from Bristol, England, during World War II. The German Luftwaffe bombed Bristol heavily. After delivering war supplies to the British, the ships' crews loaded rubble onto the ships for ballast, then sailed back to New York, where construction crews made use of it.^[6]

Exit 6, at 15th Street, has been closed since the September 11, 2001 attacks. This is because it is located near a Con Edison substation, which handles most of the electricity for lower Manhattan. City and ConEd officials believed it was far too risky to allow such easy access to such a critical piece of infrastructure, and there are no plans to ever reopen it.^[7]

Exit list

The entire route is in the New York City borough of Manhattan.

Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Battery Park City	0.00	0.00	–	NY 9A north (West Street) to Hugh L. Carey Tunnel	Southern terminus
Battery Park			Battery Park Underpass
Financial District	0.6	1.0	1	South Street – Battery Park, Staten Island Ferry	No southbound entrance
Two Bridges	1.30-1.40		2	Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Civic Center
	2.3	3.7	3	South Street – Manhattan Bridge	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Lower East Side	2.6	4.2	4	Grand Street – Williamsburg Bridge	Southbound exit and entrance
	3.03	4.88	5	Houston Street – Holland Tunnel
East Village			6	East 15th Street	Southbound exit and entrance; closed since September 11, 2001[7]
Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village	3.87	6.23	7	East 20th Street / East 23rd Street
Kips Bay	4.80	7.72	–	28th Street	Southbound entrance only
Murray Hill	4.80	7.72	8	East 34th Street to I-495 (Queens Midtown Tunnel)
	5.05	8.13	9	East 42nd Street	Northbound exit only
Midtown East	5.3	8.5	United Nations Tunnel under the UN Headquarters
	5.7	9.2	10	East 49th Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Sutton Place	5.8	9.3	11	East 53rd Street	Southbound exit only
			Tunnel under Sutton Place Apartments
Upper East Side	6.14	9.88	12	East 61st Street / East 63rd Street to NY-25 east (Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge	Northbound exit for East 61st Street, southbound exit for East 63rd Street
			Tunnel under Weill Cornell Medical Center
	6.8	10.9	13	East 71st Street	Southbound exit and entrance
	7.0	11.3	–	East 79th Street	Southbound entrance only
Carl Schurz Park			Tunnel
Yorkville–East Harlem	7.94	12.78	14	East 96th Street
East Harlem	8.9	14.3	15	East 106th Street	Southbound exit only
	9.4	15.1	16	East 116th Street	Southbound exit and entrance
	9.44	15.19	17	I-278 (Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) – Bruckner Expressway, Grand Central Parkway	No northbound entrance
	9.44	15.19	18	Willis Avenue Bridge to I-87 (Deegan Expressway)	Northbound exit only
	9.44	15.19	–	Harlem River Drive north – George Washington Bridge	Northern terminus; continuation beyond I-278 and I-87 connections
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Incomplete access

Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive close to the Queensboro Bridge.

See also

• New York Roads portal

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive at Alps' Roads • New York State Highway Termini
• FDR Drive (Greater New York Roads)