 |
Interstate 78 eastbound ascends from the Holland Tunnel underneath Hudson Street in lower Manhattan. A sign bridge posted at the exit features guide signs for Exit 1 - New York 9A (West Street) and Exit 2 - Uptown (Hudson Street). Photo taken 08/12/04. |
 |
Traffic to New York 9A (West Street) departs Interstate 78 and the Holland Tunnel via Laight Street westbound. New York 9A follows the Hudson River along the six-lane surface boulevard of West Street between the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and Hells Kitchen. The roadway features bicycle and walking paths along the southbound carriageway. Photo taken 08/12/04. |
 |
Interstate 78 traffic loops out of the Holland Tunnel in the block of Hudson, Beach, Varick, and Laight Streets. Each signed Exit refers to turn-offs from the rotary onto respective surface streets. Pictured here is the Laight Street turn-off for New York 9A as the Holland Tunnel access road loops southwestward. Photo taken 08/12/04. |
 |
Next in line is the Uptown turn-off (Exit 2) for the ramp to Beach and Hudson Streets. Hudson Street travels north-south from Broadway and Chambers Street to West 14th Street and 9th Avenue north of Greenwich Village. Photo taken 08/12/04. |
 |
Exit 3 carries Interstate 78 eastbound drivers from the Holland Tunnel to Beach Street eastbound. From the off-ramp traffic can either remain on Beach Street to West Broadway or turn southeast along Walker Street toward the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn. Photo taken 08/12/04. |
 |
Exit 4 dumps traffic onto Laight and Varick Streets for downtown Manhattan. Laight Street links Interstate 78 with the Avenue of the Americas while Varick Street travels north-south between Broadway and Franklin Streets to the junction of Clarkson Street and 7th Avenue South. Photo taken 08/12/04. |
 |
The Interstate 78 eastbound partition between Exit 4 (Downtown) and Exit 5 (Canal Street north). Canal Street begins at East Broadway near the Manhattan Bridge. Holland Tunnel Traffic defaults onto Canal Street northbound ahead of its intersection with Watts and Hudson Streets. Ramps to the Holland Tunnel westbound depart Canal Street from that location. Photo taken 08/12/04. |
 |
Interstate 78 and the Holland Tunnel access road draw to a close at Canal Street. To the left is the Holland Tunnel eastbound exit portal and second sign bridge (displayed above). As for Canal Street, it travels northwest a short distance to junction New York 9A (West Street). Varick Street stems to the right toward Soho and Greenwich Village. Photo taken 08/12/04. |
Unconstructed Interstate 78
Planning for Interstate 78 originally took the highway through Brooklyn and Queens to Interstate 95 in the east Bronx. From the Holland Tunnel, unconstructed Interstate 78 heads east along the Lower-Manhattan Expressway. The Lower-Manhattan Expressway would compliment the Mid-Manhattan Expressway (Interstate 495), by providing seamless routes across Manhattan Island between the Hudson and East Rivers. A short connector, Interstate 478, would join the Lower-Manhattan Expressway with Interstate 278 (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) via the Manhattan Bridge. Interstate 78 itself would follow the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn.
Once in Brooklyn, unconstructed Interstate 78 turns southeast along the Bushwick Expressway through the Bushwick community of the borough. Portions of the right of way were cleared along Conduit Avenue from Atlantic Avenue east to the Nassau Expressway and Belt Parkway. The Bushwick Expressway would transition into the Nassau Expressway at the Belt Parkway and carry Interstate 78 east to the southern extension of the unconstructed Clearview Expressway. The Nassau Expressway exists wholly underneath Cross Bay Boulevard, and partially (eastbound only) from the Belt Parkway (Exit 19) to the Van Wyck Expressway (Interstate 678). Unsigned Interstate 878 entails the dual-carriageway portion of the Nassau Expressway from Interstate 678 to the freeway end at Hangar Road.
East of JFK International Airport / Hangar Road, unconstructed Interstate 78 would turn north from Rockaway Boulevard on the Clearview Expressway. The Clearview Expressway was never built between Laurelton in southeast Queens to Queens Village and Hillside Avenue (New York 25). A symmetrical stack interchange with the Grand Central Parkway was constructed under the premise that Interstate 78 would bring traffic in from southeast Queens. However the Clearview Expressway peters out at a traffic light with New York 25 and 212th Street. Interstate 295 follows the Clearview Expressway northward from the GCP to the Throgs Neck Bridge and the split with the Cross-Bronx and Throgs Neck Expressways. Interstate 78 partitioned into spurs on both expressways to their respective merges with Interstate 95 (Bruckner Expressway). Today those routes are signed as Intestate 295 and 695 respectively.
Interstate 78 signs were posted along the Nassau Expressway in 1971 for a short time. In addition the Clearview Expressway (Interstate 295) carried Interstate 78 signage between 1958 and 1971.2
Unconstructed Interstate 78 Coverage
Sources:
- Holland Tunnel (I-78) @ NYCRoads.com.
- Clearview Expressway (I-295) @ NYCRoads.com.
Page Updated December 2, 2005.
|
