Is I-495 actually part of the Interstate Highway System between I-278 and I-678?

[J Route Z]

I've also always wondered why the NY 495 designation even exists for the Lincoln Tunnel, considering it's all PANYNJ maintained.

... that's still a state agency? I don't get why this is an issue. It's like saying the GWB and HT can't have route numbers either.

Those crossings are part of posted interstates, so obviously the Port Authority signs them as such. But the Lincoln Tunnel is not, and NY 495 is unsigned (unless you count all the error I-495 signs), so it's therefore odd that NYSDOT would keep the number for it internally. Also odd that they would have traffic counts for it, considering it is not their responsibility.

IIRC, the Lincoln Tunnel hasn't been posted as an Interstate crossing in years. NJDOT has NJ-495 shields on the roadway through North Bergen and into Weehawken, and the PA doesn't post any route shields for it at all. I think most people think of 495 as only the roadway on the jersey side between 16E and the helix.

Interstate shields are posted here: https://www.google.com/maps?q=Weehawken,+NJ&hl=en&ll=40.775122,-74.032955&spn=0.00219,0.005284&sll=40.276739,-74.345276&sspn=0.140133,0.338173&oq=weeha&hnear=Weehawken,+Hudson+County,+New+Jersey&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=40.77505,-74.033189&panoid=B1-U-8w57FCjvCWkW5W3sA&cbp=12,251.53,,1,1.38

[PHLBOS]

I've also always wondered why the NY 495 designation even exists for the Lincoln Tunnel, considering it's all PANYNJ maintained.

... that's still a state agency? I don't get why this is an issue. It's like saying the GWB and HT can't have route numbers either.

Those crossings are part of posted interstates, so obviously the Port Authority signs them as such. But the Lincoln Tunnel is not, and NY 495 is unsigned (unless you count all the error I-495 signs), so it's therefore odd that NYSDOT would keep the number for it internally. Also odd that they would have traffic counts for it, considering it is not their responsibility.

IIRC, the Lincoln Tunnel hasn't been posted as an Interstate crossing in years. NJDOT has NJ-495 shields on the roadway through North Bergen and into Weehawken, and the PA doesn't post any route shields for it at all. I think most people think of 495 as only the roadway on the jersey side between 16E and the helix.

Interstate shields are posted here: https://www.google.com/maps?q=Weehawken,+NJ&hl=en&ll=40.775122,-74.032955&spn=0.00219,0.005284&sll=40.276739,-74.345276&sspn=0.140133,0.338173&oq=weeha&hnear=Weehawken,+Hudson+County,+New+Jersey&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=40.77505,-74.033189&panoid=B1-U-8w57FCjvCWkW5W3sA&cbp=12,251.53,,1,1.38

That shield looks brand new too; it's also the same bubble style 3dI-shield that one sees along I-495 in DE (trailblazer and reassurance signs only).

[dgolub]

Interstate shields are posted here: https://www.google.com/maps?q=Weehawken,+NJ&hl=en&ll=40.775122,-74.032955&spn=0.00219,0.005284&sll=40.276739,-74.345276&sspn=0.140133,0.338173&oq=weeha&hnear=Weehawken,+Hudson+County,+New+Jersey&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=40.77505,-74.033189&panoid=B1-U-8w57FCjvCWkW5W3sA&cbp=12,251.53,,1,1.38

I'd guess that it's just a sign goof by Hudson County.  All the signage on the major highways says NJ 495.

On the New York side, it's signed as I-495 but listed in state documents as NY 495.

[bzakharin]

It doesn't connect to the I-95 as origially planned.  What number can it have?

I-80.  At least from I-678 eastward (I-80 then goes north along I-678 and concurrent with I-95 back to Fort Lee).

How about I-78? Route it onto the turnpike South between exits 14 and 13, then via I-278 to the present day I-495. This gets rid of the 78/x78 disconnect, the non-freeway section of 78, and the random ending of 78 at city streets. Renumber the Newark Bay Extension to 178 or something if it needs an interstate number.

[Alex]

It doesn't connect to the I-95 as origially planned.  What number can it have?

I was just curious, also what were the original plans, for it to cross Manhattan to connect with SR 495 on the other side?

You can see some plans for the Mid-Manhattan Expressway at http://www.nycroads.com/roads/mid-manhattan/

I posted this map to Interstate-Guide today too (and updated the write-up to reflect NE2's research on the mileage gap), which shows roughly where it would have run:

[silverback1065]

It doesn't connect to the I-95 as origially planned.  What number can it have?

I was just curious, also what were the original plans, for it to cross Manhattan to connect with SR 495 on the other side?

You can see some plans for the Mid-Manhattan Expressway at http://www.nycroads.com/roads/mid-manhattan/

I posted this map to Interstate-Guide today too (and updated the write-up to reflect NE2's research on the mileage gap), which shows roughly where it would have run:

Thanks for the info.  Wow, there were a lot of state highways in NYC that are no longer around.

[02 Park Ave]

We can thank Eleanor Roosevelt for the Lower Manhattan Expressway not being built.  I understand it had been fully approved but when she came out against it at the last minute, it was scrapped.

[roadman]

We can thank Eleanor Roosevelt for the Lower Manhattan Expressway not being built.  I understand it had been fully approved but when she came out against it at the last minute, it was scrapped.

Never knew that.  Of course, it was because of Eleanor Roosevelt's direct intervention that the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel became a tunnel instead of a suspension bridge.

[Brandon]

It doesn't connect to the I-95 as origially planned.  What number can it have?

I-80.  At least from I-678 eastward (I-80 then goes north along I-678 and concurrent with I-95 back to Fort Lee).

How about I-78? Route it onto the turnpike South between exits 14 and 13, then via I-278 to the present day I-495. This gets rid of the 78/x78 disconnect, the non-freeway section of 78, and the random ending of 78 at city streets. Renumber the Newark Bay Extension to 178 or something if it needs an interstate number.

Looking at the map, NYC and Long Island could seriously use more logic in their interstate numbering.

[NJRoadfan]

Actually it was Jane Jacobs, Eleanor died in 1962.

http://www.nycroads.com/roads/lower-manhattan/

[dgolub]

It doesn't connect to the I-95 as origially planned.  What number can it have?

I-80.  At least from I-678 eastward (I-80 then goes north along I-678 and concurrent with I-95 back to Fort Lee).

How about I-78? Route it onto the turnpike South between exits 14 and 13, then via I-278 to the present day I-495. This gets rid of the 78/x78 disconnect, the non-freeway section of 78, and the random ending of 78 at city streets. Renumber the Newark Bay Extension to 178 or something if it needs an interstate number.

Looking at the map, NYC and Long Island could seriously use more logic in their interstate numbering.

Yeah, it's all for historical reasons.  I-78 was supposed to go through Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, so I-278, I-678, and NY 878 (which would have been I-878) would have connected to it.  I-495 was supposed to continue across Manhattan and follows NJ 495 to end at the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95).

[vdeane]

Even if all the highways had been built, NYC's numbers would have still be wonky... just slightly less wonky.  Also, I-878 still exists, it's just unsigned (and not acknowledged by most NYSDOT documents, but the function class viewer betrays I-878's interstate status).

[dgolub]

Even if all the highways had been built, NYC's numbers would have still be wonky... just slightly less wonky.  Also, I-878 still exists, it's just unsigned (and not acknowledged by most NYSDOT documents, but the function class viewer betrays I-878's interstate status).

Well, NYSDOT considers it to be NY 878 and signs it as such, while FHWA considers it to be I-878.