Interstate 278

Interstate 278 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Length:	35.62 mi[1] (57.32 km)
Formed:	1961
West end:	US 1-9 in Linden, NJ
Major junctions:	I-95 / NJ Turnpike in Elizabeth, NJ I-495 in Queens, NY I-87 in Bronx, NY I-895 in Bronx, NY
East end:	Bruckner Interchange in Bronx, NY

Interstate 278 (abbreviated I-278) is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York, and is considered a partial Beltway around the eastern section of New York City. Despite its number, it does not connect to I-78, though a western extension was planned to I-78 east of the Route 24 interchange. The majority of I-278 is in New York City, serving local traffic; it passes through all five boroughs (though through Manhattan only because the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge crosses Wards Island, which is technically part of Manhattan).

Like most Interstates, I-278 is predominantly owned by the state; however, in New York, the New York City Department of Transportation owns two older sections of the freeway in Brooklyn. The first section is near downtown Brooklyn. The second is located between Queens Boulevard and the Grand Central Parkway.^[2]

Route description

Homes along the Staten Island Expressway

The short New Jersey segment begins in Linden at the junction with U.S. Route 1/9 and goes east into Elizabeth to its other New Jersey interchange, with Route 439 (the original Goethals Bridge approach) and the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95). This short length is sometimes called the Union Freeway. It crosses the Arthur Kill on the 4-lane Goethals Bridge to Staten Island, a borough of New York City.

After crossing into New York, I-278 uses the following named highways:

• Staten Island Expressway (Staten Island)
• Verrazano Narrows Bridge (Staten Island-Brooklyn)
• Gowanus Expressway (southern Brooklyn)
• Brooklyn-Queens Expressway including the Kosciusko Bridge (Brooklyn-Queens)
• Grand Central Parkway - westernmost section (Queens). Commercial Traffic is now allowed on this part of I-278.
• Robert F. Kennedy Bridge north and south legs (Queens-Manhattan-Bronx)
• Bruckner Expressway (Bronx)
• formerly the Sheridan Expressway (Bronx), instead of the northeastern most part of the Bruckner

I-278's eastern terminus is the Bruckner Interchange. Here, I-95 continues the Bruckner Expressway towards the New England Thruway. Due to the relative age of I-278 (most of the highways that make up I-278 predate the highway), the majority of I-278 has a 45 mph (72 km/h). speed restriction, with the exception of the Staten Island Expressway, which has a 50 mph (80 km/h). speed limit.

Legally, the New York section of I-278 is defined as part of Interstate Route Connector 512 and all of Interstate Route Connector 518 in New York Highway Law § 340-a.

During the 1960s, Interstate 278 (Union Freeway) was supposed to continue west of its current end (at US 1/9 in Linden, NJ) to the interchange with Interstate 78 (Phillipsburg-Newark Expy) and Route 24 in Springfield, Union County, NJ. It was during this decade that the project faced strong opposition. Even though it was to run along an abandoned railroad right-of-way, it would traverse through dense development in “Roselle Park, Kenilworth, and Union Township,” thereby making the project further disliked. By 1967, state officials decided not to pursue the continuation of Interstate 278 (Union Freeway Extension). Instead, they decided to “substitute the Central Jersey Expressway (I-195) in its place”, since I-195 would not go through such heavily populated areas.

However, the Union Fwy Ext (I-278) was revived again, and was to start at US 1/9, but end at the Middlesex Freeway (now known as Interstate 287) in the Township of Hanover. Nevertheless, the FHWA rejected the proposal, thus ending the I-278 project. ^[3]

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#		Destinations	Notes
			Old
Union	Linden	0.00		1	US 1-9 south – Linden	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Elizabeth	1.01		2	Route 439 (Bayway Avenue) to US 1-9 north – Elizabeth, Linden
		1.20		3	I-95 / NJ Turnpike
Goethals Bridge over Arthur Kill New York–New Jersey state line
Richmond	Staten Island
		1.60		3	Western Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		1.70		4	Forest Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		1.83		5	NY 440 south (West Shore Expressway) – Outerbridge Crossing	West end of overlap
		1.90		6	South Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		2.04		7	Richmond Avenue
		2.74		8	Victory Boulevard	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		2.93		9	NY 440 north (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway) – Bayonne Bridge	East end of overlap
		2.74		10	Victory Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		3.44		11	Bradley Avenue
		4.78		12	Todt Hill Road, Slosson Avenue
		5.73		13	Clove Road, Richmond Road, Hylan Boulevard
		7.34		14	Narrows Road west, Hylan Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		7.58		15	Lily Pond Avenue, Bay Street – South Beach	Signed westbound as 15S and 15N
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge over The Narrows
Kings	Brooklyn
		8.64		16	Belt Parkway east - Kennedy Airport	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; exit not signed
		9.84		17	92nd Street - Bay Ridge
		10.47		18	Fort Hamilton Parkway	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		10.89		19	86th Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		11.18		20	7th Avenue, 65th Street, 6th Avenue
		11.93		21	3rd Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		12.65		22	Belt Parkway	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		13.92		23	38th Street, 39th Street	No entrance ramps
		14.29		24	NY 27 east (Prospect Expressway)
		15.06	26A	25	Battery Tunnel (I-478) – Manhattan	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance Westbound exit is via Exit 26
		15.14	26B	26	Hamilton Avenue	Signed westbound for Battery Tunnel – Manhattan
		16.12		27	Atlantic Avenue
		16.74		28A	Cadman Plaza West	Signed as exit 28 westbound
		17.20		28B	Brooklyn Bridge	Westbound exit is via exit 28
		17.47		29A	Manhattan Bridge	Westbound exit is via exit 29
		18.10		29B	Tillary Street – Brooklyn Civic Center	Signed as exit 29 westbound
		18.68		30	Flushing Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		19.32		31	Wythe Avenue, Kent Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		19.85		32A	Williamsburg Bridge – Manhattan	Eastbound exit is via exit 32
		20.41		32B	Metropolitan Avenue	Signed as exit 32 eastbound
		20.60		33	Humboldt Street, McGuinness Boulevard	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		21.80		34	Meeker Avenue, Morgan Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Queens	Queens	22.02		35	I-495 (Long Island Expressway) / 48th Street, Greenpoint Avenue – Midtown Tunnel, Eastern Long Island
		23.30	36	39	NY 25 (Queens Boulevard) / 65th Place, 58th Street	Signed as exits 39E (east) and 39W (west) westbound
		23.87	37	40	Broadway, Roosevelt Avenue
		24.48	38	41	NY 25A (Northern Boulevard)
		24.66	39	42	Grand Central Parkway east – LaGuardia Airport	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		25.31	40	43	30th Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		25.57	41	44	Astoria Boulevard west	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		26.01			Grand Central Parkway east – LaGuardia Airport	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		26.37	3	45	31st Street, Astoria Boulevard
Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (west span) over East River
New York	Manhattan
		28.18		46	FDR Drive – Manhattan, Randalls Island, Wards Island, Downing Stadium
Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (east span) over Hell Gate
Bronx	The Bronx
		28.89	44	47	I-87 north (Major Deegan Expressway) – Albany
		See Bruckner Expressway
		33.62		54	I-295 south (Throgs Neck Bridge) / I-678 south (Whitestone Bridge) / Hutchinson River Parkway / Zerega Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		33.62			I-95 north (Bruckner Expressway)  – New England	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

References

• NJDOT Straight Line Diagrams
• 1968 Millburn map, showing the planned western end
• 1967 NJDOT Union County map: Sheet 1 and Sheet 2 (I-278 also appears in sheets 3 through 7)

External links

• Union Freeway @ NYCROADS.com
• Staten Island Expressway @ NYCROADS.com
• Gowanus Expressway @ NYCROADS.com
• BQE @ NYCROADS.com
• Bruckner Expressway @ NYCROADS.com

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 78 Pennsylvania: 378 (former) — New Jersey-New York: 278 — New York: 478 (unsigned) • 678 • 878 (unsigned)

Browse numbered routes
< Route 208	NJ		I-280 >
< NY 277	NY		NY 278 >

v • d • e Expressways in New Jersey Interstate Highways I-76 • I-78 • I-80 • I-95 • I-195 • I-278 • I-280 • I-287 • I-295 • I-676 U.S. and state highways US 1/9 • NJ 3 • NJ 4 • NJ 17 • NJ 18 • NJ 19 • NJ 21 • NJ 23 • NJ 24 • NJ 29 • NJ 33 • NJ 42 • US 46 • NJ 55 • NJ 81 • NJ 90 • NJ 133 • NJ 208 • NJ 440 • NJ 495 Toll roads and other highways Atlantic City Expressway (Brigantine Connector)  • Garden State Parkway • New Jersey Turnpike • Palisades Interstate Parkway