New York Roads - Grand Central Pkwy.


Eastbound




The official welcome to the parkway is east of I-278 even though it "officially" begins at the Triboro Bridge.


I-678 is reached via a complex of freeway ramps that intertwine with Northern Blvd. at Exit 9. The last photo is on the outer ramp from the GCP EB, with NY 25A nestled inside it, and the other two are courtesy Doug Kerr.


This is at the top of the Exit 8 ramp. While it's accurate, all it does is send you into the interchange you could have gotten to via Exit 9, so I'm not sure why it's there.


Roosevelt Ave. is stacked with the 7 elevated "subway" line and a spur track flying over to connect into the MTA railroad to the south. I then come in view of the 1964 World's Fair observation towers in Corona Park.


The first photo is courtesy Doug Kerr, the next two are the 69 Rd. and Jewel Ave. one-way pair overpasses, and the last is at the Exit 11 (Jewel Ave.) onramp. I am a fan of the old-style text on the Exit 12 sign (and Exit 9E up the page).


Exit 6 is on I-678, but this isn't yet that highway. After crosing under the Jamaica Yard railroad and Union Tpk. WB, the last 2 photos are on the Exit 13S ramp as it passes under Union Tpk. WB, heralding the beginning of the giant I-678 interchange agglomeration.


Hoping that the sign in front is the newer one, because it's a lot more correct. I fear the worst.


All of the exit tabs are button copy, but except for the even older Union Tpk. sign, the signs themselves aren't. I'd have thought the exit tabs would be replaced at the same time as the rest of the signs. Click on the last photo for a larger daytime version showing the full assembly, courtesy Mike Byrnes.


What genius lettered Exits 20B-A backward? The last two signs are on the C-D road for Exit 23. The third and fourth photos are courtesy Mike Byrnes.


Two more Mike Byrnes photos, with another Doug Kerr photo sandwiched in the middle.

Somewhere after Exit 24 the GCP becomes the Northern State Parkway.
Westbound




Continuing my photo run from the Northern State Parkway.


Progress, first photo courtesy Doug Kerr: I-495 replaces NY 495. NYSDOT recently decided that I-495 extends into Manhattan, while the FHWA still believes it ends at I-278. Either way, since we're well east of either of those points, the second, newer sign is correct. Also note that the WEST above NY 25 has been greened out. The 25 was an afterthought in the first place, because if the freeway had been completed to the south there would be no connection to Hillside Ave. (which would have had a different destination, of course).


Following the Exit 23 ramp around toward Union Tpk., it collects all of the I-295 traffic and lets it decide whether to exit to Union Turnpike or enter the Parkway.


Second photo is on the Exit 21 ramp, courtesy Doug Kerr.


For a brief moment, the frontage roads are cantilevered over the roadway. I don't understand why many, many more freeways don't do this, to decrease property takings and possibly fit in a highway that otherwise would be killed.


Third and fourth (smaller) photos courtesy Doug Kerr, because the signs are gone now. After that, I cross under the LIRR at 45 Ave. and pass under the Roosevelt Ave. overpass. Unlike the EB direction, the Grand Central Pkwy. WB is forced to split in half because those were the original bridges for the four-lane Parkway. This ends up being one of the tallest highway stacks in the city despite not even being an interchange.


Courtesy Doug Kerr, these signs are gone now. After Exit 4, the GCP and I-278 merge for a few miles to the GCP's end - until recently, trucks couldn't use this Parkway portion and were stuck on Astoria Blvd. instead.
West onto I-278
Exit 4 to I-278 Spur
Exit 5 to Astoria Blvd.
Exit 9E or 13S to I-678, Van Wyck Expressway
Exit 9 to NY 25A
Exit 10 to I-495
Exit 12, 15, or 21 to NY 25
Exit 13 to the Jackie Robinson (Interboro) Parkway
Exit 21 to I-295
Exit 22 or 23 to Union Tpke.
Exit 23 to the Cross Island Parkway
See more of Queens
The Grand Central on Steve Anderson's nycroads.com
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