Lower Manhattan Expressway - Route Description

Route Description

The Lower Manhattan Expressway would have begun at the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan, where it would have connected to Interstate 78 (I-78) at the eastern portal of the Holland Tunnel. From here, the LOMEX would have proceeded generally southeastward as a ten-lane elevated highway, carrying I-78 over what became SoHo and Little Italy, two areas that would have been mostly razed to accommodate the highway. Near the eastern edge of Little Italy, the road would have split into two branches, both leading to bridges over the East River on Manhattan's east side. The main branch would continue southeast as I-78 to the Williamsburg Bridge, while the other would head south to the Manhattan Bridge as I-478. In contrast to the elevated main route, the spur to the Williamsburg Bridge would have been mostly depressed, passing under Chrystie Street and the Chrystie Street Connection of the New York City Subway. The I-478 designation was later reassigned to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel.