I-495 was constructed in stages from 1940 to 1972. Its completion was intended to alleviate congestion along local roads on Long Island.
Construction of Queens segment Queens–Midtown Expressway in
Queens The first piece of what is now I-495 – the
Queens–Midtown Tunnel, linking
Manhattan and
Queens – opened to traffic on November 15, 1940. The highway connecting the tunnel to Laurel Hill Boulevard was built around the same time and named the "Midtown Highway". The tunnel, the Midtown Highway, and the segment of Laurel Hill Boulevard between the highway and
Queens Boulevard all became part of a realigned
NY 24 in the mid-1940s. Parts of this highway were built on the
right-of-way of a streetcar line that extended from
Hunters Point to southern
Flushing. In the 1940s, city planner
Robert Moses proposed the construction of a system of highways that would traverse the New York City area. The plan was to cost $800 million (equivalent to $ in ), and, in February 1945, the city agreed to pay $60 million (equivalent to $ in ) of that cost. That November, the city, state, and federal governments agreed to fund several new highways in New York City. Among these was the Queens Midtown Expressway, which was to cost $10.62 million (equivalent to $ in ). Plans did not proceed further until March 1951, when Moses proposed constructing the six-lane Queens–Midtown Expressway between Laurel Hill and Queens boulevards. This was part of a larger, $30-million (equivalent to $ in ) plan that also included the Horace Harding Expressway. By October 1952, the cost of the two projects had increased to $55 million (equivalent to $ in ), of which the Queens–Midtown Expressway was to cost $21 million (equivalent to $ in ). To help fund the Queens–Midtown Expressway, Moses reallocated funding from two other highway projects in early 1953. That October, the
New York City Planning Commission approved a minor revision to the Queens–Midtown Expressway's route in
Maspeth and
South Elmhurst, thus reducing land acquisition costs by $769,000 (equivalent to $ in ). The city government awarded the first construction contracts for the highway in July 1953. The first section of the highway to open was the section between Laurel Hill Boulevard and Maurice Avenue, which opened on February 24, 1955. The six-lane highway ran through
Calvary Cemetery. Afterward, the old Midtown Highway became known as the "Queens–Midtown Expressway". The entire highway from Laurel Hill Boulevard (by this point upgraded into the
Brooklyn–Queens Expressway) to the junction of Queens Boulevard (NY 24 and
NY 25) and Horace Harding Boulevard (
NY 25D) opened on November 5, 1955. This section of the LIE had cost $29.5 million (equivalent to $ in ) and was funded by the
TBTA, of which Moses was chair. NY 24 initially remained routed on Laurel Hill and Queens boulevards.
Horace Harding Expressway The LIE was built over much of Horace Harding Boulevard within eastern Queens and Power House Road within western
Nassau County. Prior to the LIE's construction, the route was designated as NY 25D. As part of his March 1951 proposal for the Queens–Midtown Expressway, Moses proposed widening an stretch of Horace Harding Boulevard between Queens Boulevard and the Queens–Nassau border from . The project's cost had increased to $34 million (equivalent to $ in ) by October 1952. Work began on the Horace Harding Expressway in 1955. Business owners along Horace Harding Boulevard complained that the project was reducing their income and isolating their businesses from surrounding neighborhoods. A section of the LIE near
Alley Pond Park in eastern Queens, between Cloverdale Boulevard in Bayside and Little Neck Parkway, officially opened on September 25, 1957. The highway segment reduced the need for cars to use West Alley Road, a winding road that crossed the park. Construction on the section between Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst and Parsons Boulevard in
Pomonok was several years behind schedule, but this section was open by mid-1959. For several months, the highway abruptly terminated at Parsons Boulevard, and barriers funneled traffic onto the service road; the highway was extended to Peck Avenue in
Fresh Meadows in late 1959. The section of the LIE west of the
Clearview Expressway was designated as I-495 in October 1958. By early 1960, the LIE saw more than 120,000 vehicles per day, although congestion frequently built up at Bayside. The marshy land in the vicinity of
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park caused cracking on the expressway's pavement. The segment of the LIE near the
Clearview Interchange, between Peck Avenue and 224th Street, officially opened on August 12, 1960. The interchange itself, which contained eight ramps and eight overpasses, was not open at the time because I-295 was still under construction. and it constructed a partial interchange with I-678. Originally, I-495's westbound and eastbound roadways in Queens were separated by a median measuring wide, with a chainlink fence and emergency telephones. In 1960, state officials announced that they would install a
Jersey barrier in the median between 207th Street and the Queens–Nassau border. The remainder of the highway in Queens still contained chainlink fences, which were expensive to repair and could not prevent head-on collisions. In 1970, work commenced on a two-year project to install a Jersey barrier in the median of I-495 from 108th Street to Little Neck Parkway, replacing a median.
Extension to Long Island Plans for a highway, the Central Motor Expressway, extending east to
Riverhead in
Suffolk County, Long Island, were first reported by regional newspaper
Newsday in late 1953. This length included the Queens–Midtown Expressway, as well as the section of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway south of the junction with the Queens–Midtown Expressway. Suffolk County supervisors endorsed the plans soon after they were announced. In 1954, New York State Governor
Thomas E. Dewey approved plans for the LIE, extending between the Queens–Nassau border and Riverhead. Moses and New York City mayor
Robert F. Wagner Jr. said that the proposed highway would not charge tolls, regardless of whether the expressway received federal funding under the
Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952. From the outset, a minimum speed limit of was enforced on the segment of the LIE in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Nassau County looking west from Parkside Drive in 2021. This segment of the LIE between Willis Avenue and Glen Cove Road opened in 1959. On September 30, 1958, the first section of the LIE outside New York City, a segment from the Queens–Nassau county line to
Willis Avenue in
Roslyn Heights, officially opened to traffic. The section of the LIE between Roslyn and the Nassau–Suffolk border was initially controversial; at a public hearing in late 1957, 100 homeowners criticized the alignment of that section of highway. By early the next year, work had commenced on the section of the LIE between Guinea Woods Road (now
Glen Cove Road) and Jericho Turnpike. The New York state government awarded a construction contract for the section of the LIE between Jericho Turnpike and South Oyster Bay Road in June 1959. This was followed in November 1959 by a contract for the section between South Oyster Bay Road and the Suffolk County border. The LIE was extended to Glen Cove Road in Roslyn on September 29, 1959, with ramps to and from the
Northern State Parkway. By this time, the LIE was continuous between Bayside and Roslyn. The LIE was extended east from Glen Cove Road to
NY 106/
NY 107 in
Jericho on October 8, 1960, and was then opened to South Oyster Bay Road in
Syosset in December 1960. By 1962, the NY 24 designation was removed from the LIE and reassigned to its former surface alignment to the south, while the portion of the freeway east of the Clearview Expressway became NY 495 (and later, I-495).
Suffolk County By 1958, it was estimated that the entire highway would not be completed until 1970. and Suffolk County's supervisors also advocated for the highway to be completed as soon as possible. Bidding for the first section of the LIE in Suffolk County, from the Nassau border to
NY 110 in
Melville, began in February 1960. Supporters of the highway believed that its completion would reduce traffic on Long Island's west–east arterial roads. Over the next decade, the completion of the LIE in Suffolk County spurred significant population growth in communities along its route. Over one-third of the LIE within Suffolk County—a section from Melville to Veterans Memorial Highway (now
NY 454) near
Islandia—was opened to traffic between 1962 and 1963. A extension of the LIE from Oyster Bay Road to NY 110 opened in August 1962, bringing the highway into Suffolk County. The rest of the highway to Islandia was constructed simultaneously. A extension from NY 110 to Deer Park Road opened in October 1962, followed the next month by another segment from Deer Park Road to Commack Road. A further extension opened to NY 454 in August 1963. Three more sections of the LIE, from Islandia to exit 71 near Riverhead, were completed in 1969 and 1970. The segment from Veterans Memorial Highway to Patchogue–Holbrook Road was opened on October 27, 1966, by governor
Nelson Rockefeller. The discontinuous section of highway between
William Floyd Parkway and exit 71 opened in June 1969 and was extended west to
Holbrook in December 1969. A segment between Horseblock Road and Holbrook, connecting the two sections of the LIE, continued for several months. After this section opened on June 9, 1970, the LIE was continuous between Manhattan and Riverhead. There were delays in constructing the easternmost of the LIE from exit 71 to
CR 58. this plan would have cost about $100 million (equivalent to $ in ). New York City's commissioner of highways also proposed constructing a monorail to alleviate congestion on I-495 in Queens. These plans did not come to fruition, and, by the late 1960s, average rush-hour speeds were about . By 1972, the highway was being used by over 150,000 vehicles a day. The
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials did not formally extend the I-495 designation from New York City to Riverhead until May 1984. Subsequently, the entirety of the LIE was designated as I-495.
Additional lanes in Queens The ramp from the westbound I-495 to the westbound I-278 in Queens was so congested that a traffic light was installed on that ramp in 1962. State officials planned to reconstruct the interchange, although the project was delayed for several years. In addition, they planned to build a six-lane viaduct above the existing highway between I-278 and 58th Street, which would carry traffic to and from the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. In 1966, the New York City Board of Estimate approved plans to reconstruct the interchange with I-278 as a
cloverleaf interchange; the project was planned to cost around $70 million (equivalent to $ in ) and take three years. and work began that October. Starting in 1971, one lane of I-495 between the Queens–Midtown Tunnel and Maurice Avenue was converted to a westbound HOV and bus lane during the morning rush hour. Plans to widen I-495 between I-278 and I-678 were announced by New York City mayor
John Lindsay in January 1968. Two additional
local lanes would be built beside the three existing lanes in each direction. The plans were postponed in 1974 after state voters failed to approve a bond issue that would have funded the project. By 1976, officials were again seeking to widen I-495 using federal funds. The federal government gave $270 million (equivalent to $ in ) for the widening of I-495 in the 1970s, By the 1980s, the stretch of I-495 between I-278 and the Grand Central Parkway was frequently carrying 110 percent of its capacity, In 1981, officials proposed several improvements for that highway segment, including adding a two-lane grade-separated service road between the two highways, realigning service roads at 69th and 108th streets, and improving entrance and exit ramps.
Lighting and the HOV lanes Initially, I-495 lacked
street lights in Nassau and Suffolk counties. As early as 1969, the county executive for Nassau County had advocated for the installation of street lights along a stretch of the LIE within that county. The final streetlights were installed in 2002. Following the passage of a $3-billion (equivalent to $ in )
bond issue that year, the state proposed marking the additional lanes as
HOV lanes. The state approved the construction of these lanes east of the
Cross Island Parkway in 1991. The lanes were built in sections. The first section to open, a section in western Suffolk County, was opened in May 1994; two additional sections opened in 1998 and 1999. The lanes soon became well known due to a combination of advertising and free publicity in news articles, and they were heavily patronized even outside of peak hours. The lanes were completed on June 30, 2005, at which point they ran from exit 32 in eastern Queens to exit 64 at
Medford in Suffolk County. The lanes had cost $880 million (equivalent to $ in ) in total. Construction of the HOV lanes within Queens was delayed due to opposition from local officials and the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The HOV segment in Queens was canceled altogether in 1998, when Governor
George Pataki announced that the additional lanes between exits 30 and 32 in Queens would be entrance and exit lanes, rather than HOV lanes. The HOV project would have rebuilt many bridges along I-495 between exits 33 and 40 in Nassau County. As a concession to homeowners, the HOV lanes were narrowed and built within the existing roadbed, and the bridges were largely kept as is.
Late 1990s to present Starting in 1998, I-495 was rebuilt between exit 15 (Van Dam Street) and exit 22 (Grand Central Parkway). The renovation cost $200 million (equivalent to $ in ) and entailed renovating the highway's main and service roads, improving bridges, and replacing drains. In 2000, Pataki and New York City mayor
Rudy Giuliani announced that this segment of I-495 between exits 29 and 32, near Alley Pond Park and the Cross Island Parkway, would be rebuilt at a cost of $112 million (equivalent to $ in ). Work started in August 2000 and was substantially completed by 2005. The project included the restoration of within the park, as well as the construction of new ramps to and from the Cross Island Parkway at exit 30. The interchange with Grand Central Parkway was rebuilt from early 2015 to February 2018, with the replacement of the three overpasses carrying I-495 over the parkway. The $55-million (equivalent to $ in ) reconstruction included extending merge lanes, replacing and adding lighting, and improving drainage structures.
Service roads and the proposed interchange As I-495 was being built across Long Island, it was specifically designed to accommodate certain topographical conditions and proposed interchanges. Exit 30 was originally a partial cloverleaf interchange with the
Cross Island Parkway, while eastbound exit 30S was for Easthampton Boulevard with a connecting ramp to the southbound Cross Island Parkway. Exit 31 was originally a westbound only interchange for Douglaston Parkway; it was later combined with the exit for Little Neck Parkway. Exit 39A was intended for the proposed extension of the
Wantagh State Parkway near Powell Road in Old Westbury. It was intended to be a
full Y interchange with an east-to-southbound-only offramp and a north-to-westbound-only onramp running beneath Powell Road. Exit 40 originally had only same-directional offramps under the expressway providing access to realigned sections of
NY 25. When exit 41 was originally constructed, it had no south-to-west connecting ramp. Westbound access to the expressway was provided at the nearby exit 40 onramp at NY 25. An alternate design for exit 42 called for it to be similar to the one proposed for
NY 135 and the
Bethpage State Parkway, and westbound exit 46 was originally a partial cloverleaf. Exit 47 was never built; it had been intended for the extension of the Bethpage State Parkway near Washington Avenue in Plainview. The site of exit 47 is now a truck inspection site between exits 46 and 48, which opened in 2006. The original right-of-ways for the service roads between exits 48 and 49 were intended to weave around the steep Manetto Hills area of the main road, rather than running parallel to the road as it does today. The land between the service road and the main road was reserved for housing developments. The right-of-way for the original westbound service road still weaves through the development on the north side of the road. Exit 54 was eliminated during this project. Prior to the construction of the interchange with
CR 97 (Nicolls Road), exit 62 was for Morris and Waverly avenues eastbound and Morris Avenue westbound. Exit 68 was originally planned to be built as a cloverleaf interchange without collective–distributor roads. Additionally in the 1970s, Suffolk County Department of Public Works proposed an extension of East Main Street in Yaphank (
CR 102) that would have terminated at the west end of this interchange. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Suffolk County Planning Department considered extending
CR 55 to the Grumman Calverton Naval Air Base between exits 70 and 71. This would have provided an additional interchange known as exit 70A. Exit 71 itself was intended to be a cloverleaf interchange with
CR 94 (Nugent Drive) and the Hamptons Spur of the LIE. After the Hamptons Spur proposal was canceled, the plans for exit 71 were altered to call for a complete diamond interchange. ==Unbuilt expansions==