Interstate 478 New York

Overview
Interstate 478 is an unmarked route following the Hugh L. Carey (Brooklyn-Battery) from I-278 (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) at the Red Hook section of Brooklyn north to the southern tip of Manhattan. Operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the four lane tunnel uses all electronic toll collection through E-ZPass and toll by plate. Cashless toll collection commenced for the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel on January 3, 2017.1
History
The first proposed alignment for Interstate 478 extended south from the planned Lower Manhattan Expressway (I-78) across the Manhattan Bridge to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278). The Manhattan Bridge, a suspension bridge built between 1901 and 1909, spans the East River between Canal Street in Lower Manhattan and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. The Lower Manhattan Expressway was dropped in March 1971 and I-478 redesignated along the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and proposed Westway.2
The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel opened to traffic on May 25, 19503 as the longest continuous underway vehicular tunnel in North America. The crossing took ten years to build.4 The tunnel was renamed after Brooklyn native Hugh L. Carey, a former Congressman and Governor of New York (1975-82) on October 22, 2012.3
Route Information
North End – Manhattan, New York, NY
South End – Brooklyn, New York, NY
Mileage – 2.14
Cities – New York City
- Junctions –
Source: December 31, 2018 Interstate Route Log and Finders List
I-478 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)
Location | Vehicles per day |
---|---|
I-278 to NY 9A | 48,380 |
Source: 2015 NYSDOT Traffic Data Viewer
This was part of the planned Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have taken I-78 across Manhattan from the Holland Tunnel east to the Williamsburg Bridge with I-478 branching south via the Manhattan Bridge.
Interstate 478 originally extended north as far as Mid-town Manhattan along the former elevated West Side Highway. The West Side Highway closed on December 16, 1973 from the Battery north to West 46th Street due to structural deficiencies and a collapse of a 60 foot section at Gansevoort Street. The remainder closed afterwards to West 57th Street, with a temporary roadway built along West Street and 12th Avenue. Demolition of the elevated West Side Highway took place between 1977 and 1989.2 The route was dropped as an Interstate highway per AASHTO on November 8, 1986.
A replacement of the West Side Highway was approved in May 1993. The new roadway was constructed as a surface boulevard from April 1996 to August 2001 and signed as New York 9A.2
Highway Guides
North End
– Manhattan, New York City, New York
South End
– Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Sources:
- “Cashless Tolls In Place At Hugh L. Carey Tunnel.” WLNY CBS New York, January 4, 2017.
- West Side (Joe DiMaggio) Highway, NYCRoads.com.
- “Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Renamed After Late Gov. Hugh Carey.” CBS New York, October 22, 2012.
- Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (formerly Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel).
Page updated January 29, 2019.