Most parkways in the US state of New York are part of a statewide parkway system owned by several public and private agencies such as New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) but mostly maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). A handful of other roads in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island are also known as parkways but are not part of the state system. The roads of the state parkway system were among the first expressways to be constructed.nycroads.com Bronx River Parkway These highways were not divided and allowed no driveway cuts, but did have intersections for some of the streets they crossed. A small section of the privately financed Long Island Motor Parkway was the first expressway to begin operation as a toll roadSam Berlinner's Long Island Motor Parkway page; Map of Toll Booths on Long Island Motor Parkway and the first highway to use bridges and overpasses to eliminate intersections.nycroads.com Long Island Motor Parkway
The individual parkways vary widely in composition. Some, such as the Sprain Brook Parkway, are functionally equivalent to a freeway; others, like Seven Lakes Drive, are two-lane undivided roads. Most parkways are located in downstate New York, where the state parkway system originated in the early 20th century.
State parkways The state's parkway system originally began as a series of then-high-speed () four-lane roads that were created to provide a scenic way into, out of, and around New York City. The first section of this system opened in 1908. Most of the early roads have been replaced and redesigned to address higher speed requirements and to increase capacity. In later sections north of New York City, the roadways were typically divided by a wide landscaped median and provided service areas along the way that offered fuel and restrooms.nycroads.com Long Island Parkway System History During the 1930s, urban planner Robert Moses developed a system of parkways in the New York City area.
Many of these parkways were built by regional agencies such as the Long Island State Park Commission (LISPC), New York City Parks Department, Taconic State Park Commission (TSPC), Westchester County Parks Commission (WCPC), and Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC). Most are now maintained, if not owned, by NYSDOT outside New York City and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) within New York City.
Today, the state parkways are for the most part equivalent to expressways and freeways built in other parts of the country, except for a few oddities. First, because many of these roads were either designed before civil engineers had experience building roads for automobile use or widened in response to increasing traffic, many New York parkways lack shoulders. Second, because designers focused more on making routes scenic rather than efficient, the parkways are meandering, often built to follow a river, and so contain many turns. Finally, because most use low, decorative stone-arch overpasses that would trap trucks, commercial vehicles, trucks and tractor trailers are banned from parkways.New York State Department of Transportation - Got Stuck? In Manhattan, this has led to nearly all trucks being forced onto local streets as the island has only one short Interstate (the Trans-Manhattan Expressway) passing through Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan.
List of parkways Parkway Opened Region From To Owner Maintained by Bay Parkway 1892 as 22nd Avenue New York City Brooklyn Brooklyn NYSDOT/NYCDOT NYSDOT Bay Parkway N/A Long Island Jones Beach State Park Jones Beach State Park NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP Bear Mountain State Parkway 1932 Hudson Valley Peekskill Cortlandt NYSDOT NYSDOT Belt Parkway 1941 New York City Brooklyn Queens NYSDOT/NYCDOT NYSDOT/NYCDOT Bethpage State Parkway 1936 Long Island Massapequa Bethpage State Park NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP Bronx River Parkway 1908 Hudson Valley The Bronx North Castle NYCDOT/Westchester County NYCDOT/Westchester County Cross County Parkway 1947 Hudson Valley Yonkers Eastchester NYSDOT NYSDOT Cross Island Parkway 1940 New York City Queens Queens NYCDOT NYCDOTEastern Parkway1874New York CityBrooklynBrooklyn NYCDOT NYCDOT Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive 1955 New York City Lower Manhattan Upper Manhattan NYSDOT/NYCDOT NYSDOT/NYCDOT Grand Central Parkway 1936 New York City Queens New York City line NYSDOT NYSDOT Harlem River Drive 1964 New York City Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan NYSDOT NYSDOT Heckscher State Parkway 1959 Long Island West Islip Heckscher State Park NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP Henry Hudson Parkway 1937 New York City Manhattan New York City line NYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJ NYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJ Hutchinson River Parkway 1928 Hudson Valley The Bronx Connecticut state line NYSDOT/NYCDOT NYSDOT/NYCDOT Jackie Robinson Parkway 1935 New York City Brooklyn Queens NYCDOT NYSDOT Korean War Veterans Parkway 1972 New York City Staten Island Staten Island NYSDOT NYSDOT Lake Ontario State Parkway Western New York Carlton Rochester NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP NYSDOTLittle Neck ParkwayNew York CityQueensQueens Lake Welch Parkway 1971 Hudson Valley Harriman State Park Harriman State Park PIPC NYSDOT Long Mountain Parkway Hudson Valley Harriman State Park Bear Mountain State Park NYSDOT NYSDOT Loop Parkway 1934 Long Island Lido Beach Jones Beach State Park NYS OPRHP NYSDOT Meadowbrook State Parkway 1934 Long Island Jones Beach State Park Westbury NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP Mosholu Parkway 1937 New York City Bronx Park Van Cortlandt Park NYSDOT/NYCDOT NYSDOT/NYCDOT Niagara Scenic Parkway Western New York Niagara Falls Porter NYS OPRHP NYSDOT Northern State Parkway 1931 Long Island New York City line Hauppauge NYS OPRHP NYSDOTOcean ParkwayNew York CityBrooklynBrooklyn Ocean Parkway1934 Long Island Jones Beach State Park Captree State Park NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP Palisades Interstate Parkway 1958 Hudson Valley Fort Lee, NJ Bear Mountain State Park PIPC NYSDOT/NJDOT Pelham Parkway 1911 New York City The Bronx Pelham Bay Park NYCDOT NYCDOT Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway 1969 Adirondacks Lake George Prospect Mountain NYSDEC NYSDEC Robert Moses Causeway1951 Long Island Robert Moses State Park West Islip NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHPRockaway ParkwayNew York CityBrooklynBrooklyn Sagtikos State Parkway 1952 Long Island West Islip Commack NYS OPRHP NYSDOT Saw Mill River Parkway 1954 Hudson Valley New York City line Bedford NYS OPRHP NYSDOT Seven Lakes Drive Hudson Valley Sloatsburg Bear Mountain State Park PIPC NYSDOT Southern State Parkway 1949 Long Island Valley Stream West Islip NYS OPRHP NYSDOT Sprain Brook Parkway 1961 Hudson Valley Yonkers Hawthorne NYSDOT NYSDOT Sunken Meadow State Parkway 1957 Long Island Commack Sunken Meadow State Park NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP Taconic State Parkway 1925 Hudson Valley North Castle East Chatham NYSDOT NYSDOT Wantagh State Parkway 1929 Long Island Jones Beach State Park Westbury NYS OPRHP NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway 1935 Adirondacks Wilmington Whiteface Mountain NYSDEC NYSDEC
Other parkways Some regions of New York have parkways that are not owned or maintained by a state agency. Westchester County, for example, contains some highways that were originally part of the TSPC and WCPC, while Suffolk County has preserved a section of the former Long Island Motor Parkway (LIMP) for current driving and built their own roads on land originally reserved for the LISPC. The surviving remnant of the LIMP in western Suffolk County, named the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, became a surface road that is no longer an expressway nor off limits to commercial vehicles.
List of parkways Parkway Opened Region From To Owner Maintained by Arden Valley Road 1922 Hudson Valley Harriman State Park Harriman State Park PIPC PIPC Central Westchester Parkway Hudson Valley White Plains White Plains Westchester County Westchester County Farragut Parkway Hudson Valley Hastings-on-Hudson Hastings-on-Hudson Westchester County Westchester County Fire Island Beach Road Long Island Fire Island Fire Island Suffolk County Suffolk County Memorial Parkway Mohawk Valley Genesee Street, Utica Albany Street, Utica City of Utica City of Utica Playland Parkway 1929 Hudson Valley Harrison Playland Westchester County Westchester County Tiorati Brook Road Hudson Valley Harriman State Park Bear Mountain State Park PIPC PIPC Vanderbilt Motor Parkway Long Island Melville Lake Ronkonkoma Suffolk County Suffolk County William Floyd Parkway Long Island Fire Island Rocky Point Suffolk County Suffolk County
References
External links Official NYSDOT site Official NYCDOT site with map