Bruckner Interchange in the context of "Gowanus Expressway"

Interstate 678 (I-678) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway that extends for 14 miles (23 km) through two boroughs of New York City. The route begins at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Jamaica Bay and travels north through Queens and across the East River to the Bruckner Interchange in the Bronx, where I-678 ends and the Hutchinson River Parkway begins.

I-678 connects to I-495 (the Long Island Expressway) in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The highway is known as the Van Wyck Expressway (/væn ˈwɪk/ van WIK or /væn ˈwaɪk/ van WYKE) from JFK Airport to Northern Boulevard (New York State Route 25A or NY 25A), the Whitestone Expressway from NY 25A north to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, and the Hutchinson River Expressway from the bridge to the Bruckner Interchange. North of the interchange, I-678 ends and the roadway continues as the Hutchinson River Parkway.

Interstate 95 (I-95) is part of the Interstate Highway System and runs from Miami, Florida, to the Canada–United States border near Houlton, Maine. In the US state of New York, I-95 extends 23.50 miles (37.82 km) from the George Washington Bridge in New York City to the Connecticut state line at Port Chester. The George Washington Bridge carries I-95 across the Hudson River from New Jersey into New York City. There, I-95 runs across Upper Manhattan on the Trans-Manhattan Expressway for 0.81 miles (1.30 km) through Washington Heights. It continues east across the Harlem River on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and onto the Cross Bronx Expressway. In the Bronx, I-95 leaves the Cross Bronx at the Bruckner Interchange, joining the Bruckner Expressway to its end. North of the interchange with Pelham Parkway, it continues northeast via the New England Thruway (part of the New York State Thruway system) into Westchester County and to the Connecticut state line, where I-95 continues on the Connecticut Turnpike.

The Trans-Manhattan Expressway also carries US Route 1. An average of about 280,000 vehicles traverse the expressway each day. Completed in 1960, the expressway sits below ground level in an open cut; the George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the highrise Bridge Apartments are built over the expressway, creating intermittent tunnels. It is maintained by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). Although the highway geographically runs east–west, it carries the north–south routings of I-95 and US 1. The westbound lanes carry the southbound designations of both routes, while the eastbound lanes carry the northbound designations.

Interstate 295 (I-295) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway within New York City. Measuring 7.7 miles (12.4 km) in length, I-295 originates at NY 25 (Hillside Avenue) in Queens, running north across Queens and over the tolled Throgs Neck Bridge, to Bruckner Interchange, a junction with I-95, I-278, I-678, and the Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx. From south to north, I-295 intersects the Grand Central Parkway, I-495 (Long Island Expressway), and the Cross Island Parkway in Queens before crossing the Throgs Neck Bridge and splitting with I-695 (Throgs Neck Expressway). In Queens, I-295 is also known as the Clearview Expressway, and in the Bronx, parts are known as the Throgs Neck Expressway and the Cross Bronx Expressway Extension.

The entirety of I-295 was proposed in 1955 as a part of I-78. Construction started in 1957, and the highway opened in 1963 with the I-78 designation. Originally, plans called for I-78 to be extended southeastward from the Holland Tunnel in Manhattan to NY 878 (Nassau Expressway) in Queens, before curving north to meet the Clearview Expressway. These plans were canceled in 1970, at which point the highway between NY 25 in Queens and I-95 in the Bronx was re-designated as I-295. I-295 was originally planned to continue further south to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The 2.5-mile (4.0 km) JFK Expressway, constructed in the 1980s, was intended to be part of I-295 but was constructed only as far north as the Belt Parkway.

The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of I-295 and U.S. Route 1 (US 1). The Cross Bronx begins at the eastern approach to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River. While I-95 leaves at the Bruckner Interchange in Throgs Neck, following the Bruckner Expressway and New England Thruway to Connecticut, the Cross Bronx Expressway continues east, carrying I-295 to the merge with the Throgs Neck Expressway near the Throgs Neck Bridge. Though the road goes primarily northwest-to-southeast, the nominal directions of all route numbers west of the Bruckner Interchange are aligned with the northbound route number going southeast, and the southbound route number going northwest.

The Cross Bronx Expressway was conceived by Robert Moses and built between 1948 and 1972. It was the first highway built through a crowded urban environment in the United States; the most expensive mile of road ever built to that point is part of the Cross Bronx, costing $40 million (equivalent to $469,515,528 in 2024). At one point during construction, Moses' crews had to support the Grand Concourse (a major surface thoroughfare), a subway line and several elevated train lines while the expressway was laboriously pushed through. The highway experiences severe traffic problems, and its construction has been blamed for negatively affecting a number of low-income neighborhoods in the South Bronx. Most Bronxites consider the Cross Bronx Expressway the defining border between the North and the South Bronx.