Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is a highway in Brooklyn & Queens.

Description
After the exit for the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, I-278 heads north onto the six-lane Brooklyn–Queens Expressway, passing through urban neighborhoods near downtown Brooklyn on a depressed alignment. The next interchange the highway reaches serves Atlantic Avenue. After Atlantic Avenue, the road runs along the East River harbor in downtown Brooklyn/Brooklyn Heights and is partially covered to create the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. I-278, at this point maintained by the New York City Department of Transportation, makes a sharp turn to the east away from the East River and comes to an interchange serving the Brooklyn Bridge and Cadman Plaza. The freeway continues on an elevated alignment and makes a turn southeast as it comes to ramps accessing the Manhattan Bridge.

North of the bridges, the highway becomes state-maintained again and reaches at an exit serving Tillary Street and Flushing Avenue. At this point, the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway continues east through residential areas and turns northeast upon coming to the Wythe Avenue/Kent Avenue exit. The road passes through the Williamsburg neighborhood on a depressed alignment, reaching an interchange that serves the Williamsburg Bridge, with an exit at Metropolitan Avenue a short distance later. I-278 becomes elevated again as it passes through more neighborhoods and comes to the interchange with Humboldt Street/McGuinness Boulevard. The Brooklyn–Queens Expressway enters more industrial areas as it comes to Meeker Avenue/Morgan Avenue.

I-278 crosses the Newtown Creek into Queens on the Kosciuszko Bridge. Upon entering Queens, the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway runs north between residential neighborhoods to the east and Calvary Cemetery to the west before coming to an interchange with I-495. After I-495, the freeway makes a turn to the east, passing over homes before crossing over New Calvary Cemetery. The road turns northeast through more urban neighborhoods and reaches an interchange at NY 25 (Queens Boulevard). At this point, I-278 becomes city-maintained again and passes under the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line as it continues into a depressed alignment. The Brooklyn–Queens Expressway turns north as it approaches the exit for Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue. I-278 heads back onto a viaduct and comes to a single-point urban interchange at NY 25A. A short distance past NY 25A, the freeway splits into east and west segments with four lanes each that respectively merge into the Grand Central Parkway east- and west-bound. Astoria Boulevard is accessible from either leg. Both legs receive Interstate funding, though only the western leg is signed as part of I-278.