Kennedy Airport Interchange

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).{{google maps |url = https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6653197,-73.7989117,752m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu |title = Kennedy Airport Interchange |access-date = December 1, 2023 }}{{Cite web |title = Southbound Van Wyck Expressway Safety Improvements |publisher = The Tully Group |url = https://www.tullygroup.us/capabilities/southbound-van-wyck-expressway-safety-improvements/ |access-date = December 2, 2023 |language = en-US }}

A stub ramp exists on the JFK Expressway at the interchange for a future connection to the unbuilt westbound lanes of the Nassau Expressway. A proposal to construct the westbound lanes of the Nassau Expressway through the interchange was cancelled in 1995.{{cite news |last1 = Herszenhorn |first1 = David M. |date = September 3, 1995 |title = Neighborhood Report: South Ozone Park; 'Road to Nowhere': Still No Return |work = The New York Times |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 }}

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).{{Cite news |date = May 10, 1948 |title = Airport's Highway Lags on High Cost; Idlewild to Open in 80 Days, but Manhattan Route Is 1 1/2 Years From Completion |pages = 43 |work = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/10/archives/airports-highway-lags-on-high-cost-idlewild-to-open-in-80-days-but.html |access-date = December 1, 2023 }}{{cite book |author-link = Robert Caro |first = Robert |last = Caro |title = The Power Broker |date = 1975 }}{{page needed|date = December 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |title = Compact NYSDOT Highway Record Plans: Beginning 1900 |url = https://data.ny.gov/Transportation/Compact-NYSDOT-Highway-Record-Plans-Beginning-1900/6bx3-2s36 |access-date = December 1, 2023 |publisher = New York State Department of Transportation |language = en }}{{Cite news |last = Sullivan |first = Walter |date = October 5, 1948 |title = Big Expressway Open in Two Years: That's the Latest Estimate for Queens Project to Ease Island's South Shore Jam |pages = 27, 45 |work = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1948/10/05/archives/big-expressway-open-in-two-years-thats-the-latest-estimate-for.html |access-date = December 1, 2023 }} 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. The rest of the original interchange opened in 1950, upon the opening of the segment of the Van Wyck north to Queens Boulevard.{{cite news |date=January 5, 1952 |title=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 |page=2 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326931373}}}}{{cite news |last1 = Thorne |first1 = B.K. |date = October 22, 1950 |title = New Expressway Shortens Trip to Idlewild |work = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1950/10/22/archives/new-expressway-shortens-trip-to-idlewild-short-road.html |access-date = March 15, 2017 }}

In the 1960s, the interchange was modified and expanded as part of the project to construct the Nassau Expressway (Interstate 878).{{cite news |last1 = Fowle |first1 = Farnsworth |date = October 23, 1968 |title = Van Wyck Roads Are Under Study: Better Use of Service Lanes Sought for Kennedy Traffic |work = The New York Times |url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9901E7DD1130E034BC4B51DFB6678383679EDE&legacy=true |access-date = December 1, 2023 }}{{cite magazine |date = May 1964 |title = Expressway Plans |url = https://archive.org/details/regionalplannews7374regi |magazine = Regional Plan News |publisher = Regional Plan Association |issue = 73–74 |pages = 1–18 |access-date = December 1, 2023 }}{{Cite news |date = August 11, 1967 |title = Highway Bottlenecks Are Facing Weekend Drivers |pages = S28 |work = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/11/archives/highway-bottlenecks-are-facing-weekend-drivers.html |access-date = December 1, 2023 }} As part of the project, the interchange's two southern "cloverleaf" ramps were demolished and replaced with more a more complex configuration.

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.{{cite web |last1 = Zupan |first1 = Jeffrey M. |last2 = Barone |first2 = Richard E. |last3 = Lee |first3 = Mathew H. |date = January 2011 |title = Upgrading to World Class: The Future of the New York Region's Airports |url = http://www.rpa.org/pdf/RPA-Upgrading-to-World-Class.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924092424/http://www.rpa.org/pdf/RPA-Upgrading-to-World-Class.pdf |archive-date = September 24, 2015 |access-date = March 15, 2017 |publisher = Regional Plan Association }}{{cite news |last = Cliness |first = Francis X. |date = March 25, 1971 |title = Lower Manhattan Road Killed Under State Plan |page = 78 |newspaper = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/25/archives/lower-manhattan-road-killed-under-state-plan.html |access-date = April 14, 2010 }} 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.{{cite news |last1 = Boorstin |first1 = Robert O. |date = October 29, 1986 |title = Colume One; Transport |work = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/29/nyregion/colume-one-transport.html |access-date = March 11, 2017 }} 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 {{circa|1986}}.{{cite book |author = Vollmer Associates |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bag1AQAAMAAJ&pg=SL9-PA37 |title = Nassau Expressway Construction, New York City: Environmental Impact Statement |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |year = 1981 |access-date = December 1, 2023 }}{{cite news |last1 = Schmitt |first1 = Eric |date = February 2, 1987 |title = New York Airports: $3 Billion Program |work = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/02/nyregion/new-york-airports-3-billion-program.html?pagewanted=all |access-date = December 1, 2023 }}

• Newark Airport Interchange
• Kew Gardens Interchange
• Bruckner Interchange

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{{Commons category|Kennedy Airport Interchange}}

• [http://empirestateroads.com/week/week22.html Empire State Roads] Interchange of the Week, Monday, February 26, 2001 (with images)

Category:Road interchanges in New York (state)

Category:John F. Kennedy International Airport

Category:Highways in Queens, New York

Category:Robert Moses projects