:New York State Route 878

File:Cross Bay Bl Conduit Av td 08 - Nassau Expressway.jpg, concurrent with NY 27.]]

The {{convert|3.73|mi|km|adj=on}} northwest section in Queens is mostly built to freeway standards, except for a traffic light at the eastern end of the highway. It lies along the north edge of JFK Airport, just south of the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue (NY 27). Officially NY 878 starts at the interchange between the Belt Parkway, Conduit Avenue (NY 27) and Cross Bay Boulevard, and it stretches east to the intersection of Rockaway and Farmers Boulevards.{{cite book |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/tour_route.pdf |title=Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Scenic Byways & Bicycle Routes in New York State |author=New York State Department of Transportation |date=October 2004 |access-date=March 26, 2009}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/queenstvbk.pdf |title=Queens County traffic counts |author=New York State Department of Transportation |year=2003 |access-date=March 26, 2009 }} The eastbound freeway does begin in the median of Conduit Avenue just west of Cross Bay Boulevard, but it carries NY 27 until the highways split at a point between the IND Rockaway Line underpass and Lefferts Boulevard. The separate NY 878 begins at that split, but the route only carries eastbound one-way traffic until it reaches the junction with I-678 (Van Wyck Expressway). There it becomes a two-way freeway. NY 878 continues east past the JFK Expressway, and becomes an expressway at a traffic light at North Hangar Road. NY 878 ends soon after at Rockaway Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard.

{{anchor|Interstate 878}}

{{Redirect|Interstate 878|the highway designated as I-878 from 1959 to 1970|Interstate 278}}

{{infobox road small

|state=NY

|type=I

|route=878

|location=South Ozone Park, Queens, New York City

|length_mi=0.70

|length_ref=

}}

The {{convert|0.70|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch from I-678 (Van Wyck Expressway) east to the JFK Expressway is designated but not signed as I-878 by the Federal Highway Administration.{{cite web |first=Kevin |last=Adderly |date=December 31, 2016 |title=Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as of December 31, 2016 |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/interstate_highway_system/routefinder/table02.cfm |work=Route Log and Finder List |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |access-date = September 24, 2017 }} This makes I-878 the shortest three-digit Interstate Route and the shortest Interstate Highway in the Interstate Highway System.{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-04-19-me-60325-story.html |title=The Freeway Numbers Game |last=Curtiss |first=Aaron |date=April 19, 1996 |work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 31, 2017|issn=0458-3035}} This section of NY 878 only has route designations for the eastbound lanes. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) designates I-878 as the stretch of NY 878 from the Van Wyck Expressway east to the 150th Street underpass.{{cite book |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2017%20tour-bk.pdf |title=Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State |author=New York State Department of Transportation |author-link=New York State Department of Transportation |date=January 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2017}} The entire segment, including the unsigned I-878, is maintained by the NYSDOT.

Rockaway Boulevard in Queens, as well as Rockaway Turnpike in Nassau County, connect the two halves of NY 878. From the end of NY 878 to near Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, the road is maintained by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT).{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=ii48 |title=Jamaica Digital Raster Quadrangle |publisher = New York State Department of Transportation |year=1975 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=March 26, 2009}} From Guy R. Brewer Boulevard to just before the city line, the road is designated as the unsigned state reference route NY 909G. The last {{convert|0.07|mi|m|-1}} before the city border are city-maintained.{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/HighwayInventory-QueensCounty-2014.zip |title=Queens County Inventory Listing |date=August 7, 2015 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |format=CSV |access-date=September 5, 2017 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/2011%20LHI%20-%20Local%20Roads%20and%20Streets%20Reg%2011%20-%20New%20York%20City.pdf |title=Local Roads Listing – New York City |date=July 27, 2011 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |access-date=January 12, 2012}} The part of Rockaway Turnpike that connects to NY 878 is maintained by Nassau County.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=ii49 |title=Lynbrook Digital Raster Quadrangle |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |year=1991 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=March 26, 2009}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/2011%20LHI%20-%20County%20Roads%20Reg%2010%20-%20Nassau%20County.pdf |title=County Roads Listing – Nassau County |date=July 26, 2011 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |access-date=January 12, 2012}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/HighwayInventory-NassauCounty-2014.zip |title=Nassau County Inventory Listing |date=August 7, 2015 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |format=CSV |access-date=September 5, 2017 }}

The {{convert|2.40|mi|km|2|adj=on}} southeast section of NY 878 is an at-grade expressway, with only two bridges grade-separating the highway from intersecting routes – over the Far Rockaway Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, and under Seagirt Boulevard at a trumpet interchange.{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/nassautvbk.pdf |title=Nassau County traffic counts |author=New York State Department of Transportation |year=2003 |access-date=March 26, 2009 }} Signage for NY 878 can be seen from the split with Rockaway Turnpike south to the toll plaza of the Atlantic Beach Bridge in Lawrence. However, the NYSDOT only considers a {{convert|1.96|mi|km|2|adj=on}} piece of the highway to be part of NY 878. The state-maintained portion of NY 878 comprises the segment south of Burnside Avenue in Inwood.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=jj49 |title=Lawrence Digital Raster Quadrangle |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |year=1991 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=March 26, 2009}} The segment from Rockaway Turnpike to Burnside Avenue is maintained by the highway. The southern section of NY 878 has no connections to other state routes.

File:NY 878 Northbound in Nassau County.jpg{{maplink|frame=yes|frame-lat=40.7233|frame-long=-73.9276|width=420|height=320|frame-align=right|text=The segments of I-78 and its auxiliaries in NYC and Nassau County that were built (black), cancelled segments (dark red), and segments that were cancelled with multiple different proposed routings (light red). In this map, I-878 extends from I-278, extends south across Brooklyn and Queens, and terminates at Atlantic Beach|from=Interstate 78 in New York with auxillaries.map}}The portion of Rockaway Boulevard and Turnpike between NY 27 and the Atlantic Beach Bridge was originally designated as New York State Route 104 by 1931.{{cite map |title=New York |publisher=Standard Oil Company |year=1931 |cartography=General Drafting}} However, this designation was removed by 1932.{{cite map |title=Texaco Road Map – New York |publisher=Texas Oil Company |year=1932 |cartography=Rand McNally and Company}}

The expressway was first proposed in late 1945,{{cite news|author1=Moses, Robert|author-link=Robert Moses|title=New Highways for a Better New York; We have started a program, says Mr. Moses, which will give us a less congested and more comfortable and accessible city.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/11/11/98600781.pdf|access-date=February 19, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=November 11, 1945}} to connect Brooklyn with southeastern Queens and the South Shore of Long Island, as well as to provide a link to Idlewild (now JFK) Airport. It was among several highways planned jointly between Robert Moses' Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.{{cite web|title=Nassau Expressway|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/historical-signs/listings?id=12630|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=December 1, 2001}}{{cite news|title=Long Island Journal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/06/nyregion/long-island-journal-182806.html|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=June 6, 1982}} By 1949, the Nassau Expressway was planned along with a replacement for the original Atlantic Beach Bridge. It was envisioned by Moses and Nassau County executive J. Russell Sprague as a vital link between Atlantic Beach, the Belt Parkway system, and the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge. A contract for preliminary engineering work was awarded that year.{{cite news|last1=Ingram|first1=Joseph C.|title=New Bridge To End Shore Traffic Jam: Six-Lane Atlantic Beach Span as Key Link for Parkways Will Be Started This Fall|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/07/17/84273994.pdf|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 16, 1949|location=Mineola, New York}}{{cite news|title=Work Is Let To Start Nassau Expressways|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/05/06/84562839.pdf|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=May 5, 1949|location=Albany, New York}} As originally proposed, the highway would have only extended from the interchange with Van Wyck Expressway and Belt Parkway to the Atlantic Beach Bridge.

In the beginning, the Nassau Expressway was supposed to be a single highway, with the now-separate spurs to be connected by a highway running parallel to Rockaway Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike. The connector highway would have passed through the wetlands of Idlewild and Hook Creek (part of which would have been relocated to accommodate the highway), then turned south through the small community of Meadowmere, Queens, located near Five Towns.{{Cite web |title=Town of Hempstead Jurisdiction Map – Nassau County GIS |url=https://nassau-county.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?layers=68ef620e048b4a38a0525fdefdf2dfb2&useExisting=1 |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=nassau-county.maps.arcgis.com}} This route was favored as a replacement to Rockaway Boulevard/Turnpike, which was viewed as inadequate and congested.{{cite news|last1=Abramson|first1=Barry|title=Nassau Expressway Ready to Materialize|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/25/archives/long-island-weekly-nassau-expressway-ready-to-materialize.html|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=March 25, 1979|location=Inwood, New York|page=14}} A map of the expressway was presented to the Nassau residents in 1951.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/08/14/archives/expressway-route-adopted-in-nassau.html|title=Expressway Route Adopted in Nassau|date=August 14, 1951|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 6, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Three years later, the state made the first land acquisitions for the Nassau segment of the expressway.{{cite news|title=State To Acquire The Property For The Nassau Expressway|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=Wave of Long Island|via=Fultonhistory.com|date=August 19, 1954|page=1|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252021%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201954%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201954%2520-%25200461.pdf }}

The Nassau Expressway was proposed alongside the never-built Long Beach Expressway. The Long Beach Expressway would have extended east past the Atlantic Beach Bridge along the South Shore to Long Beach and Lido Beach, ending at a junction with the Loop Parkway leading to Jones Beach and the Meadowbrook State Parkway. The Long Beach Expressway would have been a six-lane expressway, running along Reynolds Channel on the north shore of the Long Beach Barrier Island to New York Avenue, then along Park Avenue, which was the primary commercial thoroughfare of Long Beach.{{cite news|title=Long Beach Trade Fights Super-Road: Group Says the Route Through Business Center Would Create 'Chinese Wall'|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/07/30/86778966.pdf|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 30, 1949|location=Long Beach, New York}}

The Nassau Expressway was mapped as part of the Interstate Highway System in 1961. At that point, the New York State Department of Public Works began purchasing land for both the Nassau and Long Beach Expressways. Over {{convert|65|acre|ha}} of land were ceded from Idlewild Park near JFK Airport for the construction of the expressway.{{cite web|title=Idlewild Park: History|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/idlewild-park/history|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=May 21, 2018}} The small community of Meyers Harbor, located in the Hook Creek wetlands east of the modern Five Towns Shopping Center, was condemned and destroyed to provide a path for the expressway.{{cite news|last1=Kensinger|first1=Nathan|title=Following Hook Creek Through Ghost Towns and Wetlands|url=https://ny.curbed.com/2014/12/4/10015562/following-hook-creek-through-ghost-towns-and-wetlands|access-date=May 21, 2018|work=Curbed New York|date=December 4, 2014}} Many homes in Inwood were either condemned and demolished or relocated in order to facilitate the expressway. However, Long Beach residents opposed the proposed expressway's routing along Park Avenue, as the residents believed the highway would create a "Chinese Wall" dividing their community. The Long Beach Expressway was vetoed by the state in 1967 due to community opposition.

The first section of the Nassau Expressway to be built was a {{convert|2.8|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} eastbound-only segment between Cross Bay Boulevard and 150th Street. The eastbound lanes ended at a point near JFK Expressway. The Nassau Expressway intersected with the Van Wyck Expressway at JFK Airport. The construction of this section was approved by the New York City Planning Commission and New York City Board of Estimate in 1963,{{cite news|title=Planning Group Backs New Road; Link of Nassau Expressway to Stretch 2.8 Miles|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/04/19/82058457.pdf|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 19, 1963}}{{cite news|last1=Bennett|first1=Charles G.|title=2 Links Approved for Queens Road; City Board Gives Go-Ahead on Nassau Expressway|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/06/28/89939416.pdf|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=June 28, 1963}} and work began in 1965.{{rp|I-3}} The new roadway was completed in either 1967{{rp|I-3}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/main/bridgedata/repository/QueensBridgeData.pdf|title=NY State Highway Bridge Data: Queens County|date=November 30, 2017|access-date=January 13, 2018|work=National Bridge Inventory|publisher=United States Department of Transportation; Federal Highway Administration|page=7}} or 1971. The construction of the highway's eastbound lanes drastically reduced congestion and increased average traffic speeds for drivers traveling eastbound on South Conduit Avenue and the Nassau Expressway. Westbound drivers on North Conduit Avenue continued to experience {{convert|10|to|15|mph|km/h}} congestion since no new highway lanes had been built for these drivers. This corridor saw an average of 600,000 daily trips by 1981, of which 20% were made by airport travelers.{{rp|I-2 to I-3}}

Construction along Rockaway Boulevard and in Nassau County was hindered due to the presence of muck, which was located in the wetlands near the Queens-Nassau border. The muck could not be built upon, and removing it would be both expensive and environmentally risky. The wetlands had previously been used as a garbage landfill by the New York City Department of Sanitation.{{cite book|title=Nassau Expressway Extension from the Vicinity of Cross Bay Blvd to Atlantic City Bridge, Queens/Nassau Counties: Environmental Impact Statement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bm02AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA17|access-date=March 11, 2017|year=1972|publisher=United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration}}{{rp|2–3}} In addition, residents opposed this segment of the highway. As with the canceled Long Beach Expressway it would have created a "Chinese wall" between communities in Nassau County.

In March 1971, Governor Nelson Rockefeller revealed a plan for improving New York City highways. The plan denied funding to several proposed New York City Interstate Highways, including the Nassau Expressway segment east of 150th Street to Rockaway Boulevard. Rockefeller said that these highways did not qualify for a funding agreement from the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952, in which the federal government would pay 90% of the proposed highway's cost. The New York Times quoted a state official who said that this move had the effect of canceling these projects.{{cite news |title=Lower Manhattan Road Killed Under State Plan |first=Francis X. |last=Cliness |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/03/25/81936145.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 25, 1971 |page=78 |access-date=April 14, 2010}} By that time, less than a quarter of the proposed $51.8 million, {{Convert|10|mi|km|adj=on}} highway had been completed. The only section open at the time, the eastbound freeway west of JFK Airport, had been built at a cost of $18 million. Maps from the 1970s show that the connector between the Van Wyck and Rockaway Boulevard had yet to be constructed.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o40073f7 |title=Jamaica Digital Raster Quadrangle |publisher = New York State Department of Transportation |year=1979 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=September 27, 2017}} However, a 1971 New York Times article mentioned that the freeway between the Van Wyck Expressway and 150th Street was already open. At the time, the entire highway from Queens to Nassau was planned for completion in 1981.{{cite news |title=10.6-Mile Nassau Expressway May Be Completed in 10 Years |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/03/21/91274082.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 21, 1971 |page=BQ99 |access-date=April 14, 2010|location=Babylon, New York}}

By around late 1973, work on the project restarted. Builders sought funds from the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 to pay for construction. At that time, plans called for the completion of the highway's westbound lanes west of 150th Street, as well as the sections of the freeway along Rockaway Boulevard and in Nassau County. Rockaway Boulevard would have also been relocated and modernized.{{rp|1}}{{cite news|last1=Burks|first1=Edward C.|title=Funds Sought for Nassau Expressway|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/11/archives/funds-sought-for-nassau-expressway.html|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=September 11, 1973}} However, the federal government refused to approve the funding, and the money was instead distributed among projects in Arkansas, Indiana, and Fort Worth, Texas. This further delayed the construction of the Nassau Expressway.{{cite news|last1=Faber|first1=Harold|title=Loss of U.S. Aid to Delay Nassau Expressway Link|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/21/archives/loss-of-u-s-aid-to-delay-nassau-expressway-link-nassau.html|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 21, 1974|location=Albany, New York|page=105}} By then, the unbuilt segment in Nassau was called the "phantom expressway" because it had been in the planning stages for decades. The right-of-way for the unbuilt expressway became an unused, rodent-infested "wasteland". Meanwhile, Rockaway Turnpike was carrying five times the number of cars it had been built to accommodate.

In 1976, New York Governor Hugh Carey announced the publication of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)'s five-year, $212 million highway improvement plan. This proposal included completing much of the rest of the Nassau Expressway.{{Cite news |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252021%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201976%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201976%2520-%25200388.pdf |title=Eying Nassau Expressway? 'It's Day's Passed'—Bachrow|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=Wave of Long Island|via=Fultonhistory.com|date=September 18, 1976|page=15}} Three years later, the NYSDOT published plans for the segment of the expressway that would be built in Nassau. A revised plan for the Nassau County section of the highway was introduced around 1981. It called for a four-lane arterial highway between Rockaway Turnpike and the Atlantic Beach Bridge. This section was opened in March 1990.

Also around 1980, plans to complete the westbound lanes of the expressway in Queens were reintroduced. The new expressway would include direct access to Aqueduct Racetrack.{{cite book|title=Nassau Expressway Construction, New York City: Environmental Impact Statement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bag1AQAAMAAJ&pg=SL9-PA37|access-date=February 28, 2017|year=1981|publisher=United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, New York State Department of Transportation}}{{Rp|I-6 to I-7}}{{cite news|title=Booklet Offers Alternates On Nassau Expressway|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252021%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201979%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201979%2520-%25200680.pdf |access-date=March 11, 2017|work=Wave of Long Island|via=Fultonhistory.com|date=December 8, 1979|pages=13}} Work on the expressway project was to begin in 1998.{{cite news|last1=Herszenhorn|first1=David M.|title=Neighborhood Report: South Ozone Park; 'Road to Nowhere': Still No Return|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-south-ozone-park-road-to-nowhere-still-no-return.html|access-date=March 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=September 3, 1995}} However, by the 1990s, the project had not commenced, even though the new expressway would have relieved congestion on the parallel Belt Parkway. Construction was delayed indefinitely in 1995 due to a lack of funds due to the early-1990s recession, as well as a general decline in horse racing at the Aqueduct Racetrack, which obviated the need for the westbound freeway in Queens.

In 1998, Nassau County legislator Bruce A. Blakeman proposed renaming the southern portion of NY 878 after President Ronald Reagan. Originally, he wanted that name applied to the Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway (NY 135) further east. After opposition to that expressway's renaming, Blakeman then proposed renaming the Nassau Expressway after Reagan. However, the Nassau Expressway renaming proposal was also opposed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/08/nyregion/long-island-journal-a-collection-of-1500-plants-and-growing.html|title=Long Island Journal; A Collection of 1,500 Plants and Growing|last=Ketcham|first=Diane|date=March 8, 1998|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 26, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

In October 2014, Nassau County Legislator Howard Kopel (representing Lawrence) and New York State Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (representing Howard Beach, Broad Channel, and the Rockaways) advocated for the completion of the entire Nassau Expressway, in order to alleviate traffic on Rockaway Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike, and to provide an evacuation route in the event of a natural disaster.{{cite news|last1=Parker|first1=Vanessa|title=Nassau Expressway completion sought: Rally in Lawrence on Sunday|url=http://liherald.com/stories/Nassau-Expressway-completion-sought,59172?page=1&content_source=|access-date=May 21, 2018|work=Long Island Herald|date=October 1, 2014}}

File:30 years of progress, 1934-1964 - I-78 Unbuilt Brooklyn and Queens.jpg, including the Bushwick Expressway, Nassau Expressway, and Clearview Expressway extension]]

From circa 1959 until 1970, the I-878 designation was used for a section of what is now I-278 (Bruckner Expressway) between Sheridan Boulevard (formerly the Sheridan Expressway) and the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) in the Bronx.{{cite book |url=http://www.eastcoastroads.com/pdfs/state70.pdf

|title=Description of Touring Routes in New York State for the Interstate (I), Federal (U.S.) and State (N.Y.) Route Number Systems |author=New York State Department of Transportation |author-link=New York State Department of Transportation |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=March 26, 2009}} I-278 was routed north on the Sheridan, while its present route was taken by I-878. At that time, the northwest piece of present NY 878 was to be part of I-78, which would have continued from the Holland Tunnel along the Lower Manhattan Expressway, Williamsburg Bridge and Bushwick Expressway to reach the Nassau Expressway at Cross Bay Boulevard. Northeast of Kennedy Airport, I-78 was to turn north onto the Clearview Expressway, using the Throgs Neck Bridge and Cross Bronx Expressway to end at the Bruckner Interchange.{{cite map |url=http://www.nycroads.com/history/1960_metro-1/ |publisher=Rand McNally and Company |title=New York City |year=1960 |access-date=April 15, 2010}}

• Note that I-95 is shown on the Hutchinson River Parkway north of the Bruckner Interchange, but the 1955 "Yellow Book" map shows the I-78 route on the Bruckner Expressway.{{Cite book|publisher=Port of New York Authority|url=http://classify.oclc.org/classify2/ClassifyDemo?wi=2551801|title=A Report on Airport Requirements and Sites in the Metropolitan New Jersey–New York Region|oclc=2551801|year=1961|page=73}}

The one-way eastbound section of the Nassau Expressway from Cross Bay Boulevard to the Van Wyck Expressway was built in 1967, when the highway was still part of I-78.{{rp|I-3}} I-78 through New York City was canceled in March 1971. Effective January 1, 1970, the year before, the Nassau Expressway and unbuilt Cross Brooklyn Expressway, stretching from I-278 at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge east to the Atlantic Beach Bridge, was officially designated I-878 by the NYSDOT. The Nassau Expressway was redesignated as NY 878 by 1991.

Until 2005, the southern terminus of the southern portion of NY 878 was at Meadow Causeway.{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Data%20Report%202004.pdf |title=2004 Traffic Data Report for New York State |author=New York State Department of Transportation |access-date=March 26, 2009 }} At the time, the portion of the Nassau Expressway from Meadow Causeway to the Seagirt Boulevard interchange was maintained by Nassau County while the section between the Seagirt Boulevard interchange and the Atlantic Beach Bridge toll barrier was maintained by the NYSDOT as NY 900V, a {{convert|0.25|mi|m|-1|adj=on}} long reference route. In 2005, NY 878 was extended south to its present terminus at the Atlantic Beach Bridge toll barrier, resulting in an overlap with NY 900V.{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Data%20Report%202005.pdf |title=2005 Traffic Data Report for New York State |date=August 16, 2006 |author=New York State Department of Transportation |access-date=March 26, 2009 }} The NY 900V designation, now redundant to NY 878, was removed by October 2007.{{cite book |title=Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State |author=New York State Department of Transportation |date=October 2007}}

Exit numbers on NY 878's northern segment are only posted in the eastbound direction. There are no exit numbers for the westbound lanes.{{google maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/40.6676407,-73.8402211/40.6592312,-73.7732534/@40.663612,-73.8198143,14.21z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0 |title=New York State Route 878 (western segment) |access-date=January 6, 2017}}

• For images of the signage, use Google Street View.

{{NYinttop|exit|length_ref={{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Data%20Report%202008.pdf |title=2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State |date=June 16, 2009 |page=325 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |access-date=January 24, 2010}}}}

{{NYCint|exit

|county=Queens

|cspan=9

|location=Ozone Park

|borough=Queens

|lspan=2

|mile=0.0

|exit=–

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|27|dir1=west|name1=South Conduit Avenue}}

|notes=Western terminus of eastbound NY 878

}}

{{NYCint|exit

|mile=0.4

|exit=–

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|27|dir1=east|name1=South Conduit Avenue|Parkway|Belt|to3=yes|road|Lefferts Boulevard|location1=Long Term Parking|extra=airport}}

|notes=Eastbound exit only

}}

{{NYCint|exit

|location=South Ozone Park

|borough=Queens

|lspan=2

|mile=1.9

|mile2=2.1

|exit=1

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=NY|I|678|name1=Van Wyck Expressway|extra=airport|location1=Whitestone Bridge|location2=Kennedy Airport}}

|notes=No westbound entrance; signed as exits 1S (south) and 1N (north); I-678 south not signed; exits 1E-W on I-678

}}

{{NYCint|exit

|mile=2.4

|exit=–

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|27|name1=North Conduit Avenue|dir1=west|location1=Kennedy Airport|extra=airport|Parkway|Belt|dir2=west|location2=Verrazzano Bridge}}

|notes=Westbound exit only; western terminus of westbound NY 878

}}

{{NYCint|exit

|location=Springfield Gardens

|borough=Queens

|lspan=5

|mile=2.76

|exit=2S

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|extra=airport}} JFK Expressway south – Kennedy Airport

|notes=No westbound exit; northern terminus of JFK Expressway

}}

{{NYCint|exit

|mile=2.9

|exit=2N

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|27|dir1=east|Parkway|Belt|dir2=east|name1=South Conduit Avenue}}

|notes=Eastbound exit only

}}

{{jctplace|exit

|mile=3.3

|mspan=2

|place=Eastern end of freeway section

}}

{{NYCint|exit

|mile=none

|exit=3

|road={{jct|extra=airport}} North Hangar Road / North Boundary Road – Kennedy Airport

|notes=At-grade intersection with westbound jughandle

}}

{{NYCint|exit

|mile=3.73

|type=

|road=Rockaway Boulevard

|notes=Eastern terminus; at-grade intersection with eastbound reverse jughandle

}}

{{jctgap}}

{{NYint|exit

|county=Nassau

|cspan=4

|location=Inwood

|mile=0.0

|exit=–

|road=Nassau Expressway / Burnside Avenue

|notes=Northern terminus; at-grade intersection

}}

{{NYint|exit

|location=Lawrence

|lspan=3

|ctdab=Nassau

|mile=1.3

|mile2=1.45

|exit=–

|road=Rock Hall Road

|notes=At-grade intersection except northbound exit}}

{{NYint|exit

|mile=1.71

|exit=–

|road=Seagirt Boulevard – Rockaways, Brooklyn

|notes=Trumpet interchange; last southbound exit before toll

}}

{{NYint|exit

|mile=1.96

|exit=–

|type=toll

|road=Atlantic Beach Bridge – Atlantic Beach, Long Beach

|notes=Continuation south

}}

{{jctbtm|exit|keys=incomplete,toll}}

{{Portal bar|U.S. Roads|New York (state)|New York City}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category multi|Interstate 878|New York State Route 878}}

{{Attached KML}}

{{NYSR external links|type=N|nyroutes=yes|termini=yes|route=878|alps=yes}}

• [http://www.greaternyroads.info/roads/nystate/ny878 NY 878 (Greater New York Roads)]

{{3di|78}}{{State highways on Long Island, New York}}{{JFK Airport}}

Category:Interstate 78

878

Category:Roads on Long Island

Category:Transportation in Nassau County, New York

Category:Expressways in New York City

*878

Category:Transportation in Queens, New York

Category:Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States