New York Roads - I-678 NB

I-678 Northbound



Leaving JFK Airport on the Van Wyck Expressway NB, which is I-678 even inside airport property despite reference marker 1000 being posted as you leave (because Port Authority doesn't post them). I managed to get an Exit A photo with added roadgeek value - the exit tab should be on the right like on the other side, because that's where the exit is. The NY 878 shield should actually resemble an NY shield (i.e. V-shaped bottom), and the I-678 shield should be on a 3-digit template, not a stretched 2-digit (I call these bubble shields). Finally, NYCDOT signs take over in the last two photos - the last one is on the Exit 1A ramp visible from the mainline.


Not a lot of button copy over the "local" lanes - actually the merged ramps from NY 27, Belt Parkway, and a connector from the I-678 mainline "express" lanes that includes NY 878 traffic. Just a couple of exit tabs and one advance sign.


Click for closeup of the last sign, so you can see the condition of the 25 shield and learn why it's called button copy.


A run of northbound signage, third photo courtesy Doug Kerr. The Grand Central Parkway turns at I-678 for a short distance, running parallel on the west side of the World's Fair grounds, and is responsible for carrying all NB-WB and EB-SB non-truck traffic betwen I-495 and I-678.


I didn't want to interrupt all the signs, so starting at Exit 9 and continuing through Exit 10, here's some reconstruction of I-678, the angled Queens Blvd./NY 25 overpass, and the split at the left exit to Grand Central Pkwy. WB. The last few construction photos were taken from that left exit, showing new supports for I-678 as it rises over the sprawling Kew Gardens Interchange. The last two photos are of the NB-WB ramp crossing under Grand Central Pkwy. EB and Union Tpk. WB.


Not button copy, but old, the next sign on I-678 NB at the split.


Under the 7 line at (on top of) Roosevelt Ave.


Approaching the Whitestone Bridge, all but the second photo courtesy Doug Kerr. Note how the older signs in the NYC area tend to fail to keep track of direction, à la California. Also, in my second photo, notice the outline of the old (state-name, I'm sure) shield behind the newer ugly one.


My own photos of the first signs above show that nothing much has changed except the black-background shield is now a cutout and "EXIT ONLY" has been patched over.


Old things: the parkway-style 14th Ave. overpass near the Cross Island Parkway, button copy, and the 1939 Bronx-Whitestone Bridge. During deck repairs it was down to 5 lanes, 2/2 with a reversible center lane based on traffic needs.


The last picture is on the Bruckner Interchange ramp from I-678 NB. The second one is courtesy Doug Kerr. Click on the third one to see how the signs looked in the 1970's, courtesy Michael Summa - same signs, a little clearer, minus a few banners.

Onto the SB side
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Into JFK Airport
Exit 1 onto NY 878
Exit 1 onto the Belt Parkway
Exit 1 to NY 27
Exit 8 to Union Tpke.
Exit 9 to NY 25
Exit 10 to the Grand Central Parkway
Exit 10 to LaGuardia Airport
Follow signs to I-495, the Long Island Expressway
Exit 13 to NY 25A
Exit 13 to Astoria Blvd.
Exit 16 to the Cross Island Parkway
Into Queens
Into the Bronx
At the Bruckner Interchange, pick up I-95 or I-278 or continue on the Hutchinson River Parkway
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