Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of "Brooklyn–Queens Expressway"

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⭐ Core Definition: Interstate 295 (New York)

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.

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Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of Lower Manhattan Expressway

Interstate 78 (I-78) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to New York City. In the US state of New York, I-78 extends 12 mile (800 m). The entirety of I-78 consists of the Holland Tunnel, which crosses under the Hudson River from New Jersey and ends at an exit rotary in Lower Manhattan. The tunnel and its approaches are maintained by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).

I-78 was planned to take a longer route when the Interstate System within New York City was originally proposed in the late 1950s. The proposed route of I-78 was to head east via the Williamsburg Bridge to John F. Kennedy International Airport and then north over the Throgs Neck Bridge to I-95 in the Bronx. One unbuilt section of I-78, the Lower Manhattan Expressway, would have connected the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges. Another unbuilt section, the Cross-Brooklyn and Bushwick Expressways, would have extended southeast across Brooklyn, connecting to what is now the Nassau Expressway (New York State Route 878 or NY 878). A third section would have connected the Nassau Expressway, at the southern edge of Queens near JFK Airport, to the southern end of what is now I-295, in central Queens. Due to opposition from the communities along the expressways' routes, these sections of I-78 were never built, and I-78 does not connect to I-278 or to any of its other auxiliary routes.

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Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of Throgs Neck Bridge

The Throgs Neck Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City, carrying six lanes of Interstate 295 (I-295) over the East River where it meets the Long Island Sound. The bridge connects the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx with the Bay Terrace section of Queens.

Opened on January 11, 1961, it is the newest bridge across the East River and was built to relieve traffic on the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west. The Throgs Neck Bridge is also the easternmost crossing of the East River. Due to this and its proximity to I-95, it is the closest route from Long Island to New Jersey via the George Washington Bridge, as well as points north.

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Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of Gowanus Expressway

Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs 35.62 miles (57.32 km) from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The majority of I-278 is in New York City, where it serves as a partial beltway and passes through all five of the city's boroughs. I-278 follows several freeways, including the Union Freeway in Union County, New Jersey; the Staten Island Expressway (SIE) across Staten Island; the Gowanus Expressway in southern Brooklyn; the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) across Northern Brooklyn and Queens; a small part of the Grand Central Parkway in Queens; and a part of the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx. I-278 also crosses multiple bridges, including the Goethals, Verrazzano–Narrows, Kosciuszko, and Robert F. Kennedy bridges.

I-278 was opened in pieces from the 1930s through the 1960s. Some of its completed segments predated the Interstate Highway System and are thus not up to standards, and portions of I-278 have been upgraded over the years. In New York, the various parts of I-278 were planned by Robert Moses, an urban planner in New York City. The segments proposed tore through many New York City neighborhoods, causing controversy. Despite its number, I-278 does not connect to I-78. There were once plans to extend I-278 west to I-78 east of the Route 24 interchange in Springfield, New Jersey. This was canceled because of opposition from the communities along the route. The segment that does exist in New Jersey was opened in 1969. There were also plans to extend I-78 east across Manhattan and into Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge; this would have been a second interchange between I-278 and its parent highway, but these plans were also thwarted. I-78 was also planned to extend east beyond I-278 to John F. Kennedy International Airport, and then curve northward on the Clearview Expressway, ending at the Bruckner Interchange in the Bronx. If these plans were fully completed, I-78 and I-278 would have met at three interchanges.

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Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of JFK Expressway

The JFK Expressway is a freeway connecting the Belt Parkway with John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York City. It interchanges with the Nassau Expressway (New York State Route 878) near the originally proposed southern terminus of the Clearview Expressway (Interstate 295). The highway is the newest expressway in New York City, with the final section having been completed in December 1991.

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Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of Cross Bronx Expressway

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.

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Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of Bay Terrace, Queens

Bay Terrace is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is often considered part of the larger area of Bayside. Bay Terrace overlooks the East River and the approaches to the Throgs Neck Bridge from the Clearview Expressway and Cross Island Parkway. It is bounded on the west by the Clearview Expressway, on the south by 26th and 28th Avenues, to the east by the Little Neck Bay, and to the north by the East River.

Bay Terrace is located in Queens Community District 7 and its ZIP Code is 11360. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 109th Precinct. Politically, Bay Terrace is represented by the New York City Council's 19th District.

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Interstate 295 (New York) in the context of Long Island Expressway

Interstate 495 (I-495) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in southeastern New York state. It is jointly maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), MTA Bridges and Tunnels (TBTA), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). East of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, I-495 is known as the Long Island Expressway (LIE).

Spanning approximately 66 miles (106 km), I-495 traverses Long Island from the western portal of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Manhattan to County Route 58 (CR 58) in Riverhead in the east. I-495 intersects with I-295 in Bayside, Queens, through which it connects with I-95. The 2017 route log erroneously shows the section of highway between I-278 in Long Island City and I-678 in Corona as New York State Route 495 (NY 495).

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