|
Question: when is an Interstate highway not an Interstate highway? Answer: when it is the Nassau Expressway. It is on the FHWA books as the shortest Interstate on the books, but there have not been any Interstate shields on the road since 1991, when briefly-appearing I-878 shields disappeared and were replaced by NY 878 shields. For years after I-78 was canceled , the Nassau Expressway was designated as I-78 on Belt Parkway exit signs.
For the first mile and a half, the expressway is little more than a glorified three-lane eastbound exit ramp from the Belt Parkway and South Conduit Avenue (NY 27) leading to Kennedy Airport and the Van Wyck Expressway. It was only in 1990 that it was extended east, and gained a westbound carriageway along the newly extended section. However, the expressway ends abruptly just past JFK's cargo terminals, and the NY 878 designation disappears. It would help to have NY 878 reassurance shields along Rockaway Boulevard until the "missing link" of the expressway is completed, if ever.
After a remarkably slow, congested run for several miles on Rockaway Boulevard, the "expressway" re-emerges (as does the NY 878 designation) in the Five Towns area of Nassau County. However, it is little more than a boulevard built within the right-of-way for a controlled-access freeway and service roads. It seems that NY 878 could have been so much more, but there was pressure just to do something rather than wait around for a freeway that would never come. As a result, the Nassau section of NY 878 is a bit congested and unsafe.
|
|
