Discover

(Redirected from FDR Drive)

The 'Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive' (commonly referred to as the 'FDR Drive') is a freeway-standard parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts just north of the Battery Park Underpass at South and Broad Streets, runs along the entire length of the East River from the Battery Park Underpass under Battery Park (north of which it is the 'South Street Viaduct' for a bit) north to the Triborough Bridge, where it becomes the Harlem River Drive. All of the FDR Drive is designated 'New York State Reference Route 907L', an unsigned reference route.
The highway is mostly 3 lanes in each direction, with the exception of a small section underneath the Brooklyn Bridge where it is 2 lanes southbound and 1 lane northbound. An additional section between the Queensboro Bridge/60/61st Street interchange is also narrowed to 2 lanes. By law, the current weight limits on the FDR Drive from 23rd Street to the Harlem River Drive in both directions, is posted 8,000 lbs.. South of 23rd Street, buses are allowed to use this section of the FDR but are not allowed north of 23rd Street because of clearance and weight issues. All commercial vehicles (including trucks) are banned from using any section of the FDR Drive. The FDR Drive features a varied mix of below grade, at grade, elevated sections, and three partially covered tunnels, often changing every mile or two to a different mode.

Contents

Route description

History

Exit list

References

External links

Route description

The FDR Drive starts at the southern tip at South and Broad Streets and quickly becomes elevated from there to a point between Jackson Street and Gouverneur Slip, by the Manhattan Bridge exit. From there it is at street level, until it passes underneath Houston St overpass, then continues at grade. Once past the 14th Street curve, it becomes elevated briefly, except the northbound roadway is at street level when passing through Waterside Plaza between 23rd and 34th Streets, then realigns with the southbound roadway above ground. The roadway quickly dips onto street level after passing 42nd Street, the southbound roadway is inside a tunnel while the northbound roadway appears to be on the outside of the tunnel. This is due to the construction of the United Nations Plaza above the FDR. Afterwards, there is another tunnel from 51st to 63rd Streets, in this tunnel, the southbound roadway is raised and runs slightly over the northbound roadway, so the Queensboro Bridge northbound exit can be built. After the roadways become level at 63rd Street, there is another tunnel, underneath the New York-Presbyterian and Cornell Medical Center hospitals, while remaining at grade. From 79th to 90th Street, the final tunnel is used, as Gracie Mansion is overhead. Except for a brief elevation over the 96th Street interchange, the remaining portion of the roadway from the Gracie Mansion tunnel to the 125th Street interchange is at grade.
The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway runs below, beside or above the motor road, except between 34th and 63d Streets. A plaque dedicating the East River Drive is visible on the southbound roadway before entering the Gracie Mansion tunnel at 90th Street.

History

The F.D.R. Drive was originally named East River Drive, and is one of the brainchild designs of highway legend Robert Moses. Moses faced the difficult challenges of building a parkway/boulevard combination along the East River, while minimizing disruptions to residents. The section from 125th Street to 92nd Street is the original 1934 construction, while sections from 92nd Street down to Battery Park (with the exception of a section from 42nd to 49th Streets) were built as a boulevard, an arterial highway running at street level. Future reconstruction designs of the FDR Drive from 1948 to 1966 converted into a full parkway that is in use today.
It was originally named 'East River Drive', and was renamed after Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It is referred to by locals as simply "The FDR". In the 1980s, chunks of the elevated road falling to the ground led to the joke that "FDR" stood for "Falling Down Roadway".

Exit list

The entire route is located in New York County.

Location	Mile1	#	Destinations	Notes
Manhattan	FDR Drive southbound becomes NY 9A (West Side Highway)
	0.00		Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (I-478) - Brooklyn	Southbound junction only. Via Battery Park Underpass.
		1	South Street - Battery Park, Staten Island Ferry, Financial District	Additional northbound entrance from Old Slip
	1.30	2	Pearl Street - Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Civic Center
		3	South Street - Manhattan Bridge, Chinatown, Little Italy	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		4	Grand Street - Lower East Side	Southbound entrance and exit
	3.03	5	Houston Street - Williamsburg Bridge, East Village, Greenwich Village
		6	East 15th Street	Southbound exit only
	3.87	7	East 23rd Street - Gramercy Park, Chelsea	Northbound exit is East 20th/23rd Streets. Southbound exit is East 23rd Street only
			East 30th Street	southbound entrance only
	4.80	8	East 34th Street to Queens-Midtown Tunnel (I-495) - Queens, Long Island
	5.05	9	East 42nd Street - United Nations	northbound exit and southbound entrance
		10	East 49th Street	southbound exit, northbound entrance from East 48th Street
		11	East 53rd Street	southbound exit only
	6.14	12	East 61st Street/East 63rd Street to Queensboro Bridge (NY 25) - Queens	southbound entrance and exit at East 63rd Street, northbound exit to East 61st Street, northbound entrance at East 60th Street
		13	East 71st Street - Upper East Side	southbound exit to East 71st Street, southbound entrance from East 73rd Street, no northbound access/exit
			East 79th Street	southbound entrance only
			East 92nd Street/York Ave	southbound entrance only
	7.94	14	East 96th Street - Yorkville
		15	East 106th Street - Spanish Harlem	southbound exit and entrance
		16	East 116th Street - East Harlem	southbound exit and entrance
	9.44	17	Triborough Bridge to I-278 - Bruckner Expressway, Grand Central Parkway, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
	Exit numbering continues on the Harlem River Drive

References

1. Traffic Data Report - NY 427 to NY 908F

External links

★ nycroads.com - FDR Drive