Existed: 1962 – present Length 1.6 km County Manhattan | Counties: New York Constructed 1962 Major cities New York City | |
West end: I-95 / US 1-9 in Fort Washington Park East end: I-95 / US 1 in Highbridge Park | ||
The Trans-Manhattan Expressway is an east–west limited-access highway in New York City, in the United States. It traverses the northern end of the borough of Manhattan at one of its narrowest points, running for 0.8 miles (1.3 km) in a cut through Washington Heights. The highway connects the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River. Designated Interstate 95 (I-95) and U.S. Route 1, approximately 280,000 vehicles traverse the highway on a daily average basis. Completed in the early 1960s, the George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the high-rise Bridge Apartments built over the expressway create Intermittent tunnels. It is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
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Map of Trans-Manhattan Expy, New York, NY, USA
All route numbers on the highway are north-south, though the route is east-west. The route numbers are aligned so that northbound of each route number is headed east, while southbound goes compass west.
Route description
At its western end, the Trans-Manhattan Expressway is part of I-95, U.S. Route 1 or US 1, and US 9 at the eastern approach to the George Washington Bridge. It crosses Fort Washington Park, connecting with the Henry Hudson Parkway (New York State Route 9A or NY 9A) at the park's eastern edge near Riverside Drive and 168th Street. The route continues, crossing the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights in a cut flanked by 178th Street to the south and 179th Street to the north. Roughly midway across Manhattan, US 9 leaves the freeway to follow Broadway northward toward the Bronx and Westchester County. Proceeding eastward, the road has several ramps that connect to the Harlem River Drive and the expressway's original Harlem river crossing, the Washington Bridge (now carrying 181st Street local traffic over the Harlem River). At Highbridge Park the roadway crosses Alexander Hamilton Bridge to the Bronx, where it becomes the Cross Bronx Expressway.
History
The Trans-Manhattan Expressway replaced tunnels under 178th and 179th Streets as the crosstown route. They are now used as storage by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The expressway was announced in 1957 and built in conjunction with addition of the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. Originally known as the George Washington Bridge Expressway, the highway was originally planned as an open cut between 178th and 179th Streets, traversed by overpasses carrying the major north–south avenues in upper Manhattan. The City of New York approved the creation of the highway in June 1957 as part of a joint effort with the Port Authority that also called for the creation of the lower deck on the George Washington Bridge and construction of the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal above the cut for the Expressway. The Trans-Manhattan, the main New York approach to the George Washington Bridge, is only 0.8 miles long. The projects required demolition of numerous buildings and the relocation of 1,824 families. Overpasses over the open cut passing under Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue, and St. Nicholas Avenue were in place in December 1959.
The Trans-Manhattan Expressway, with three lanes of traffic heading in each direction to and from each deck of the double-decked George Washington Bridge, opened to traffic in 1962 as part of a $60 million program to improve access roads for the George Washington Bridge, whose lower deck opened that same year. The Trans-Manhattan Expressway provides access to and from the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Drive on the West Side of Manhattan, and to and from Amsterdam Avenue and the Harlem River Drive on the East Side.
The expressway was one of the first to use air rights over a major highway. After completion of the expressway, the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal was built. After purchasing the air rights in 1961, Marvin Kratter built four high-rise apartment buildings over the expressway. The 32-story buildings are among the first aluminum-sheathed high-rise structures built in the world. Local traffic reporters frequently refer to congestion "under the Apartments" during morning and evening rush hours.
Exit list
The entire route is in the New York City borough of Manhattan.