BEg2 ch26 The Deegan

[Michael Bailey]

The new Loehmann’s has been moved northward, into a former skating rink, it
seems, almost to Riverdale, right up against the relentless roar of the
Deegan”

http://www.nycroads.com/roads/major-deegan/

The Major Deegan Expressway was characteristic of the pre- and
early-Interstate era expressways in New York City. It was designed with six
12-foot-wide lanes (three lanes in each direction) and 10-foot-wide
cobblestone shoulders. The original median was comprised of a raised
cobblestone curb, with "Whitestone" lightpoles placed every 75 feet. Along
two separate stretches - in the area just south of High Bridge, and in the
area of University Heights - the northbound and southbound lanes of the
expressway were constructed at different levels to provide motorists an
unobstructed view of the Harlem River.

In 1948, the New York State Department of Public Works (NYSDPW) let out
construction contracts for the Major Deegan Expressway and six other
expressways in New York City. Work began in 1950 on extending the six-lane
Major Deegan Expressway north along the eastern shore of the Harlem River,
through Van Cortlandt Park to the Bronx-Westchester border, where the
expressway was to continue north as the New York State Thruway. The project
included a modernization of the original 1.5-mile section constructed in
the late 1930s.

The entire 8.5-mile-long Major Deegan Expressway was opened in 1956,
coinciding with the completion of the New York State Thruway. Since the
expressway was completed before the approval of the Federal Highway Act
(which formally created the Interstate highway system) that year, its $64
million cost was borne 50-50 between the Federal and state governments.
Approximately 400 families had to be relocated for the expressway.

UPGRADING THE MAJOR DEEGAN: As part of the Interstate system, the Major
Deegan Expressway (which received the I-87 designation in 1958) received a
number of improvements. From 1962 to 1964, the NYSDPW implemented several
safety upgrades - including the installation of a steel median guardrail,
new lighting and new directional signs - and constructed a complex
interchange at EXIT 7 (I-95 and US 1) to connect with the Cross Bronx
Expressway and the Alexander Hamilton Bridge. In the mid-1970', the New
York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) resurfaced the expressway,
and replaced the steel median guardrail with a concrete ("Jersey") barrier.

More recently, the Major Deegan Expressway has been reduced from six lanes
to four lanes at the Bronx Terminal Market, as well as at the Cross Bronx
Expressway (I-95). Wider paved shoulders and dedicated ramp lanes were
added at these locations to improve safety.