Grand Central Parkway

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The Grand Central Parkway is a parkway that stretches from the Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County in Long Island. At the Queens-Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, which runs in the Northern part of Long Island through Nassau County and into Suffolk County, where it ends in Smithtown. Its New York State Reference Route is 907M. The westernmost stretch (from the Triborough Bridge to Exit 4) also carries a short stretch of Interstate 278. The parkway runs through Queens and passes the Cross Island Parkway, Long Island Expressway, LaGuardia Airport and Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets.

The Grand Central Parkway was first planned in 1922, as a connection between Queens Boulevard and Nassau County, helping city dwellers reach Jones Beach easier. Construction for the Parkway began in 1931, and the parkway was widened in 1961 in preparation for the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

The Grand Central Parkway has a few unique distinctions. First, it is apparently the only parkway in New York City to carry an elliptical black-on-white design for its trailblazer. Parkways throughout The Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island use the state-standard design, while the Belt system parkways use a modified version of the Long Island regional parkway shield with the Montauk lighthouse logo. Second, it's one of the few parkways in the state to allow truck traffic to any extent. The section shared with I-278 allows for small trucks--larger ones still cannot pass under the intentionally-designed low underpasses. They have to travel on Astoria Blvd, the local service road, to reach the bridge

Exits

{| class="wikitable" |- !Exit # !Destinations !Notes |- !colspan="3"|Westbound

feeds into Eastbound 
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. This list, from top to bottom, goes eastbound. Scroll up from bottom for westbound exits.

Eastbound, BEGIN EAST

Borough of Queens |- |3 |31st Street, Hoyt Avenue |Park and Ride |- |4 | WEST Brooklyn Queens Expressway |TO Verrazano Narrows Bridge. |- |5 |LaGuardia Airport-- Marine Air Terminal | |- |6 |94th Street |An eastbound exit |- |7 |LaGuardia Airport Main Terminal |A westbound exit |- |8 |111th Street |An eastbound exit |- |9E |

NORTH Whitestone Expressway, 
EAST

|TO Whitestone Bridge. Park and Ride |- |9W |

NY-25A Northern Blvd WEST

|A westbound, left-hand exit |- |9P |Flushing Meadows Corona Park |A westbound exit |- |10 W-E |

Long Island Expressway

|EXIT 10W- TO Queens-Midtown Tunnel |- |11 W-E |69th Road, Jewel Avenue |Single exit eastbound |- |12 |

Queens Blvd, 78th Avenue

|An eastbound exit. Park and Ride. |- |13 |KEW GARDENS INTERCHANGE

NORTH, 
WEST

| NORTH: TO Bronx-Whitestone Bridge. A left hand exit westbound. |- |14 |Union Turnpike, Main Street |An eastbound exit |- |15 |

Queens Blvd WEST

|A westbound exit |- |16 |Parsons Blvd, 164th Street |An eastbound exit |- |17 |168th Street |TO

SOUTH. A westbound exit.

|- |18 |Utopia Parkway |An eastbound exit |- |19 |188th Street | |- | |Cunningham Park Service Area |Left hand exit in both directions |- |20 S-N |Francis Lewis Boulevard |- |21 S-N |

Clearview Expressway

|EXIT 21 N: TO Throgs Neck Bridge EXIT 21 S: TO

|- |22 |Union Turnpike |An eastbound exit |- |23 S-N |

BEGIN EAST 
WESTBOUND: END WEST 
BEGIN WEST

New York City parkways
Manhattan	FDR East River Drive - Harlem River Drive - Henry Hudson
The Bronx	Bronx River - Henry Hudson - Hutchinson River - Mosholu - Pelham
Brooklyn-Queens	Belt Parkway system: Cross Island - Laurelton - Shore - Southern Others: Grand Central - Jackie Robinson (Interborough) Former: Gowanus - Whitestone - Long Island Motor Parkway
Staten Island	Korean War Veterans (Richmond) Former: Willowbrook Proposed: Wolfe's Pond

External links

[Grand Central Parkway @ NYCROADS.com]

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