Kennedy Airport Interchange

Highway interchange in Queens, New York, U.S.

Road junction

Kennedy Airport Interchange

Eastbound I-878 approaching the Kennedy Airport Interchange in 2022

Location
Queens, New York
Coordinates| 40°39′57″N 73°47′51″W﻿ / ﻿40.665797°N 73.797433°W﻿ / 40.665797; -73.797433
Roads at
junction|

* I-678
* I-878 / NY 878
* NY 27
* Belt Parkway
* JFK Expressway
* 150th Street

Construction
Type| Hybrid interchange
Opened| 1948–1950
Reconstructed| 1960s, 1980s

The Kennedy Airport Interchange is a large, complex highway interchange located along the northern boundary of John F. Kennedy International Airport in the New York City borough of Queens, in New York, United States.

## Description

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The Kennedy Airport Interchange serves as a major access point to and from Kennedy Airport, in addition to points east, north, and west. It is a junction point for four controlled-access highways (the Belt Parkway, the Van Wyck Expressway (I-678), the Nassau Expressway (I-878 / NY 878), and the JFK Expressway), as well as two major surface streets (North / South Conduit Avenue (NY 27) and 150th Street).[1][2]

A stub ramp exists on the JFK Expressway at the interchange for a future connection to the unbuilt westbound lanes of the Nassau Expressway.[3] A proposal to construct the westbound lanes of the Nassau Expressway through the interchange was cancelled in 1995.[4][5]

## History

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The Kennedy Airport Interchange was built by Robert Moses in 1948, as part of the construction of the Van Wyck Expressway to JFK Airport (at the time known as both New York International Airport and Idlewild Airport).[6][7] Originally, the interchange was a standard cloverleaf, with ramps connecting the Van Wyck Expressway to North / South Conduit Avenue (NY 27); connections between the Belt (Southern) Parkway and the Van Wyck were made via North / South Conduit Avenue, which flank the sides of the Belt Parkway.[3][8] It partially opened in 1948, in time for the opening of JFK Airport, with the Van Wyck extending south to the airport's terminal area from the interchange.[3][8] The rest of the original interchange opened in 1950, upon the opening of the segment of the Van Wyck north to Queens Boulevard.[9][10]

In the 1960s, the interchange was modified and expanded as part of the project to construct the Nassau Expressway (Interstate 878).[3][11][12][13] As part of the project, the interchange's two southern "cloverleaf" ramps were demolished and replaced with more a more complex configuration.[3]

When the Clearview Expressway was originally planned, it was to continue south to JFK Airport, and connect with the interchange – but those plans were ultimately cancelled in 1971.[3][12][14][15] In the 1980s, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey constructed the JFK Expressway, providing another expressway connection to the airport, along parts of the cancelled extension of the Clearview Expressway.[3][12][16] The northern terminus of this new highway would be at the east end of the interchange, which required further modifying and expanding it; this segment of the expressway opened c. 1986.[5][3][16][17]

## See also

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* Newark Airport Interchange
* Kew Gardens Interchange
* Bruckner Interchange

## References

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1. ^ "Kennedy Airport Interchange" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
2. ^ "Southbound Van Wyck Expressway Safety Improvements". The Tully Group. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Compact NYSDOT Highway Record Plans: Beginning 1900". New York State Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
4. ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (September 3, 1995). "Neighborhood Report: South Ozone Park; 'Road to Nowhere': Still No Return". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
5. ^ a b Vollmer Associates (1981). Nassau Expressway Construction, New York City: Environmental Impact Statement. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
6. ^ "Airport's Highway Lags on High Cost; Idlewild to Open in 80 Days, but Manhattan Route Is 1 1/2 Years From Completion". The New York Times. May 10, 1948. p. 43. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
7. ^ Caro, Robert (1975). The Power Broker.[page needed]
8. ^ a b Sullivan, Walter (October 5, 1948). "Big Expressway Open in Two Years: That's the Latest Estimate for Queens Project to Ease Island's South Shore Jam". The New York Times. pp. 27, 45. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
9. ^ "Expressway Link to Idlewild Ready Next Fall: Last Mile of Van Wyck to Go From Queens Blvd. to Grand Central Parkway Work in Progress on Van Wyck Expressway Extension". New York Herald Tribune. January 5, 1952. p. 2\. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1326931373.
10. ^ Thorne, B.K. (October 22, 1950). "New Expressway Shortens Trip to Idlewild". The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
11. ^ Fowle, Farnsworth (October 23, 1968). "Van Wyck Roads Are Under Study: Better Use of Service Lanes Sought for Kennedy Traffic". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
12. ^ a b c "Expressway Plans". Regional Plan News. No. 73–74. Regional Plan Association. May 1964. pp. 1–18. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
13. ^ "Highway Bottlenecks Are Facing Weekend Drivers". The New York Times. August 11, 1967. pp. S28. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
14. ^ Zupan, Jeffrey M.; Barone, Richard E.; Lee, Mathew H. (January 2011). "Upgrading to World Class: The Future of the New York Region's Airports" (PDF). Regional Plan Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
15. ^ Cliness, Francis X. (March 25, 1971). "Lower Manhattan Road Killed Under State Plan". The New York Times. p. 78. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
16. ^ a b Boorstin, Robert O. (October 29, 1986). "Colume One; Transport". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
17. ^ Schmitt, Eric (February 2, 1987). "New York Airports: $3 Billion Program". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2023.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kennedy Airport Interchange.

* Empire State Roads Interchange of the Week, Monday, February 26, 2001 (with images)

*[c.]: circa