Trans-Manhattan Expressway

And George Washington Bridge!


A pretty sorry excuse for an Interstate shield, Broadway NB at 165th St.


Looking west from the Riverside Drive ramp to 178th St.


This is the advance BGS for Exit 1 (was 1A) on the lower level of the George Washington Bridge, cut to fit traffic. Those arrows are bent about as sharply as the actual mainline, which must duck quickly out from the lower level to run alongside the upper through the TME. By the way, US 9 NB exits here, not that you'd know it from the lower level.


The first BGS is on that lower level exit, and if you take the ramp from either level and head toward NY 9A NB, they merge and you come to Riverside Drive, a traffic light, and the second BGS. These both are Port Authority originals from WAY back in the day. Look below at the old 95/1/9A assembly, and those are from the same era. I'm guessing '50's or '60's. To view the first sign larger courtesy John Krakoff or to unblur the second sign thanks to HNTB Corporation, you can just click on either one.


Courtesy HNTB Corp., these are the new signs where the upper and lower levels' ramps come side-by-side to mix 'n' match; the old ones looked like the second photo, courtesy John Krakoff. I'd rather have button-copy trapezoids than tiny numerals and black square borders. You can turn back the clock on the first assembly, also courtesy HNTB, just by clicking on that photo. Mmm mmm good.


The signs that used to appear all the way down the ramps, courtesy John Krakoff. Except the second photo is courtesy Michael Traverse, who saw this one last trapezoidal sign on the ramp down from the Upper Level. Still, it was once part of a larger assembly, which you can see by clicking on the photo. And that hidden photo is courtesy John Krakoff. The word "Bridge" has been removed from the Pkwy. NB signs, perhaps because traffic just got off the Bridge (although I think this one is the Henry Hudson Bridge), and the old shields (see third photo) have been covered by droopy, non-button copy monstrosities.


In this SB progression you see the Hamilton Bridge advance warning for Exit 1A (the merging traffic is from the Harlem River Drive) and old photos of Port Authority signage courtesy John Krakoff. Recently, the Port Authority of NY and NJ took down all the old signs on both sides of the river - for all crossings. Very few remain, and they tend to be on surface streets. Click on the first photo to see it in daylight with a recognizable NY 9A shield, courtesy Doug Kerr.
I'm very curious as to why the old signs mention the George Washington Bridge (no relation to the Washington) as having US 1 but not US 9, especially considering 9 always used the bridge whereas 1 started off in the Holland Tunnel. Oh, and "Bridge" and "Parkway" are very cute destinations.


Speaking of the Washington Bridge... This carried temporary I-95 traffic during Cross Bronx construction, and was briefly considered to be made a permanent part of the new highway. This photo is westbound.


The surface detour for the bridge entrance takes traffic along 179th St. or 181st St. EB (first photo is the latter) to Amsterdam Ave. NB and then to the Exit 1B onramp at the Harlem River Drive. Bubble shields are bad enough, but this is a two-digit route.


Somewhere up above the TME (first two photos are in the same location) and the former Riverside Drive SB sign around 170th St. The green signs are both courtesy John Krakoff and the original white sign is courtesy HNTB Corp. I don't think that the first two photos' assembly is still around, but if it is, it's better that I don't spread the exact location, because it may be/have been the last 1950's expressway sign left.


SB entering the apartments (i.e. at the beginning of the TME), courtesy HNTB Corp., apparently taken during sign testing.


The Exit 1B ramp (NB only) to Harlem River Drive is fraught with mystery. The Amsterdam Ave./Washington Bridge split from the ramp feeds into the original exit from the 178th St. tunnel. The still intact two-lane tunnel carried all of the eastbound traffic from the George Washington Bridge that didn't exit to NY 9A or US 9 (Broadway), and you can still see the paved exit from the tunnel come right up to the guiderail on the modern exit. Continuing on the Harlem River Dr. split takes traffic past this stub merge, whose purpose even I have not ascertained. For reference, it was a stub even in 1954 before the Trans-Manhattan Expressway was built.

East to the Cross Bronx Expressway
I-95/87 Highbridge Interchange Back to I-95 main page

Follow I-95 into NJ
Exit 1(A) to NY 9A, the Henry Hudson Parkway
Exit 1B to Harlem River Drive
Exit 1C to I-87, the Major Deegan Expressway
The Trans-Manhattan Expressway and George Washington Bridge on Steve Anderson's nycroads.com
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