Manhattan At its western end, the Trans-Manhattan Expressway is part of I-95,
US 1, and
US 9 at the eastern approach to the George Washington Bridge. It crosses
Fort Washington Park, connecting with the
Henry Hudson Parkway (
NY 9A) at the park's eastern edge near
Riverside Drive and
168th Street. It then traverses the Manhattan neighborhood of
Washington Heights in a
cut flanked by
178th Street to the south and
179th Street to the north. Roughly midway across Manhattan, US 9 leaves the freeway to follow
Broadway northward toward
the Bronx and
Westchester County. Proceeding eastward, the road has several ramps that connect to the
Harlem River Drive and the expressway's original Harlem River crossing, the
Washington Bridge (now carrying
181st Street local traffic over the
Harlem River). At
Highbridge Park, the roadway crosses the
Alexander Hamilton Bridge to the Bronx, where it becomes the
Cross Bronx Expressway. The Trans-Manhattan Expressway replaced
tunnels under 178th and 179th Streets as the crosstown route. The expressway was announced in 1957 and built with the addition of the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. Originally known as the
George Washington Bridge Expressway, the highway was originally planned as an open cut between 178th and 179th Streets, traversed by overpasses carrying the major north–south avenues in upper Manhattan. The City of New York approved the creation of the highway in June 1957 as part of a joint effort with the Port Authority that also called for the creation of the lower deck on the George Washington Bridge and construction of the
George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal above the cut for the Expressway. The expressway, the main New York approach to the George Washington Bridge, is 0.8 miles long. Overpasses over the open cut passing under Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue, and
St. Nicholas Avenue were in place in December 1959. The George Washington Bridge Expressway, with three lanes of traffic heading in each direction to and from each deck of the
double-decked bridge, opened to traffic in 1962 as part of a $60 million program to improve access roads for the George Washington Bridge, whose lower deck opened that same year. The expressway was one of the first to use
air rights over a major highway. After completion of the expressway, the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal was built. Local traffic reporters frequently refer to congestion "under the Apartments" during morning and evening rush hours.
The Bronx After exit 2, I-95 crosses over the
Harlem River and enters
the Bronx, entering an interchange with the
Major Deegan Expressway (
I-87), which is marked both exit 1C (following with the Cross Bronx Expressway) and exit 3A–B (matching with the Trans-Manhattan Expressway). Now the Cross Bronx Expressway, I-95 and US 1 continue east under University Avenue and enter exit 2A, which serves
Jerome Avenue. Crossing under the
Grand Concourse, the six-lane expressway crosses into exit 2B, which is for
Webster Avenue. This interchange also marks the eastern end of the I-95/US 1
concurrency. Passing south of
Tremont Park, the Cross Bronx Expressway westbound serves exit 3, which serves
Third Avenue. and enters exit 5A, which connects to
White Plains Road in
Parkchester. Continuing southeast, the roadway enters exit 5B, Castle Hill Avenue, which is an eastbound-only exit. After Castle Hill Avenue, the route enters exit 6A, which reaches the
Hutchinson River Parkway at the
Bruckner Interchange. Changing to the
Bruckner Expressway, which runs to the northeast, I-95 enters the Bruckner Interchange with the northern terminuses of
I-678 and
I-278; the Cross Bronx Expressway Extension turns southeast along
I-295 at the same interchange. After the Bruckner Interchange, I-95 crosses Tremont Avenue before crossing over
I-695 (the Throgs Neck Expressway). Southbound, exit 7A serves I-695, while northbound the two Interstates merge. Continuing north, the Bruckner Expressway and I-95 parallel Bruckner Boulevard and run along the western edge of
Pelham Bay Park. Entering exit 8A southbound services Westchester Avenue while northbound, exits 8B and 8C serve
Pelham Parkway and Shore Road through the park, which marks the northern end of the Bruckner Expressway. Now known as the New England Thruway, I-95 leaves Pelham Bay Park and enters exit 9, a junction with the Hutchinson River Parkway. In the middle of the interchange with the Hutchinson River, exit 10 forks to the left, reaching
Gun Hill Road. Now paralleling Baychester Avenue, which also services exit 11 and Bartow Avenue, the New England Thruway continues north and enters exit 12 which connects to
Baychester Conner Street is connected via exit 13 before I-95 turns east and crosses over the
Hutchinson River. After crossing the river, the route enters an interchange once again with the Hutchinson River Parkway (exit 14) but this time southbound only.
Westchester County Crossing through the northern reaches of Pelham Bay Park, I-95 turns more northeast and enters
Westchester County. Now in
Pelham Manor, the route runs alongside Amtrak's
Hell Gate Line and crosses through
Pelham Country Club, entering exit 15, which connects to US 1 (Main Street). After US 1, the route crosses out of the Pelham Country Club, entering
New Rochelle. Crossing over
Metro-North Railroad tracks, the Interstate turns northeast and crossing through downtown New Rochelle, reaching exit 16, serving several local streets including Cross Avenue, Cedar Street, and Garden Street. North of exit 16, the New England Thruway enters its lone
toll gantry along the alignment, serving the northbound direction only. The road continues northeast through New Rochelle, passing exit 17 as it enters the town of
Mamaroneck. Exit 17 connects to Chatsworth Avenue in the
Larchmont section. Passing a pedestrian footbridge for the
Larchmont station, crossing over
NY 125 (Weaver Street). Winding north through Mamaroneck, I-95 enters exit 18A, servicing Fenimore Road in the village of
Mamaroneck. Turning northeast again, I-95 enters exit 18B, a
partial cloverleaf interchange with Mamaroneck Avenue before crossing into the town of
Harrison. The road turns east, crossing over
NY 127 (Harrison Avenue), and enters exit 19, the western terminus of
Playland Parkway, which connects the expressway to
Playland as the road enters
Rye. The route crosses through the Rye Village area, entering exit 20, which connects to US 1 (
Boston Post Road) and the village. Almost immediately after exit 20, exit 21 marks the eastern end of the
Cross Westchester Expressway (
I-287). Proceeding westbound, exit 21 and nearby exit 22 (Midland Avenue and
Port Chester) are merged but are separate exits going eastbound. Crossing through the eastern edges of Port Chester, I-95 reaches the
Byram River and crosses into
Connecticut, becoming the
Connecticut Turnpike. ==History==