The
Long Island Expressway, also known as
Interstate 495, is one of the major arteries serving midtown
Manhattan. It runs in an easterly direction from the
Queens-Midtown Tunnel, through
Queens and central Long Island, terminating in
Riverhead, 71 miles away.
The L.I.E. was opened in 1940 in conjunction with the Midtown Tunnel. It was then known as the Midtown Highway, and its eastern terminus was the interchange with the Brooklyn Queens Expressway a few short miles into Queens.
After World War II, the highway was extended to Rego Park, and in 1954, plans for the current full-length expressway were approved. The expressway followed the route of Horace Harding Boulevard as far as Manhasset; "the Horace Harding" is now the service road for the LIE in Queens.
In 1960, the Expressway reached the Nassau-Suffolk border, and reached Islip by 1964. The expressway reached its present-day length in 1972. Possible expansions eastward to Mattituck and southward to the Hamptons never materialized. Other unsuccessful plans included subway and/or Long Island Rail Road lines running along the center median (shot down by the infamous Robert Moses, and a double-decking of the entire structure in Queens to provide more capacity (a short stretch in western Queens was eventually double-decked).
Exit List:
Queens:
13--Borden Avenue / McGuinness Blvd. (eastbound only)
14--21st Street / NY 25A Jackson Ave. (eastbound only)
15--Van Dam Street / Queensboro Bridge (westbound only)
16--Greenpoint Avenue (westbound only)
17--I-278 Brooklyn Queens Expressway
18--Maurice Avenue (westbound only)
19--NY 25 Queens Blvd. / Woodhaven Blvd. / Queens Center Mall
20--Junction Blvd. (westbound only)
21--108 Street
22--Grand Central Parkway / I-678 Van Wyck Expressway / College Point Blvd. (to Shea Stadium and NY Area airports)
23--Main Street
24--Kissena Blvd. / Queens College
25--Utopia Parkway
26--Francis Lewis Blvd. (eastbound only)
27--I-295 Clearview Expressway (to Throgs Neck Bridge)
28--Oceania Street (westbound only)
29--Springfield Blvd.
30--Cross Island Parkway
32--Little Neck Pkwy.
Nassau:
33--Lakeville Road
34--New Hyde Park Road
35--Shelter Rock Road (eastbound only)
36--Searingtown Road
37--Willis Avenue
38--Northern State Parkway (to Meadowbrook Parkway)
39--Glen Cove Road
40--NY 25 Jericho Turnpike
41--NY 106 / NY 107
42--Northern State Parkway
43--Robbins Lane / South Oyster Bay Road
44--NY 135 Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway
45--Manetto Hill Road (eastbound only)
46--Sunnyside Blvd.
48--Round Swamp Road
Suffolk:
49--NY 110
50--Bagatelle Road
51--NY 231 Deer Park Ave.
52--Commack Road (eastbound only)
53--Sagtikos Parkway
55--Long Island Motor Parkway
56--NY 111 Wheeler Road
57--NY 454 Veterans Highway
58--Old Nichols Road
59--Ocean Ave.
60--Ronkonkoma Ave.
61--Patchogue-Holbrook Road
62--Nicolls Road
63--North Ocean Ave.
64--NY 112 Port Jefferson-Patchogue Road
65--Horse Block Road
66--Sills Road / Patchogue-Yaphank Road
67--Yaphank Ave.
68--William Floyd Parkway (to Fire Island)
69--Wading River Road
70--Port Jefferson-Westhampton Road (to Hamptons)
71--NY 24 Nugent Drive (eastbound only)
72--NY 25 Middle Country Road (to North Fork, eastbound only)
73--Old Country Road
A note to those travelling on the LIE: The Grand Central / Northern State Parkway parallels it between Exits 27 and 57, and is usually a quicker ride during daylight hours. There are also no trucks permitted on the parkways. Traffic on the LIE ranges from bad to execrable, but generally clears up east of exit 38.