BEg2 ch26 The Deegan

[rich]

driving the Deegan is always a thrill. have near lost axle, tire, hubcap
and fender at times. during the winter the pot holes were, well,
significantly large. not to mention the traffic, particularly around Yankee
Stadium and the dreaded Cross Bronx Expressway, which to my knowledge in
all my years driving in NYC has never not had any traffic jams.

rich

On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 5:09 AM Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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.
> --
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>