New York State Route 1A - History

History

New York City did not have posted routes until mid-December 1934. Earlier plans, drawn up in 1932 and 1933 by the New York Automobile Club, took US 1 through the Holland Tunnel and north through the upper east side of Manhattan. However, by 1934, the approaches to the George Washington Bridge were completed, and so US 1 was rerouted to use that bridge and cross through upper Manhattan. NY 1A was assigned to what had been planned as US 1 south of Fordham Road and the Bronx and Pelham Parkway, using the following streets:

• Sixth Avenue from the Holland Tunnel north to Houston Street (northbound only, as it had become one-way since the 1933 plan; southbound traffic used Varick Street)
• Houston Street from Sixth Avenue (and Varick Street) to Second Avenue
• Second Avenue from Houston Street north to 23rd Street
• 23rd Street from Second Avenue east to First Avenue
• First Avenue from 23rd Street north to the Willis Avenue Bridge
• Southern Boulevard (now partly Bruckner Boulevard) from the Willis Avenue Bridge northeast to West Farms Road
• West Farms Road from Southern Boulevard to Boston Road
• Boston Road from West Farms Road to Fordham Road (US 1) and the Bronx and Pelham Parkway

In December 1937, the Hutchinson River Parkway was extended southward from US 1 in Pelham Manor to Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. The new highway became part of NY 1A, which was rerouted through the Bronx to follow Bruckner Boulevard and Shore Road to Pelham Bay Park. From there, NY 1A followed the parkway north to a new terminus at US 1 just north of the city line. A second southward extension of the parkway from Pelham Bay Park to NY 1A at the Bruckner Interchange opened in 1941. The new road was originally designated as NY 1X; however, the NY 1X designation was replaced with a rerouted NY 1A in 1946.

The Willis Avenue Bridge became one-way northbound on August 5, 1941, and the Third Avenue Bridge became one-way southbound. Southbound NY 1A was thus rerouted along Lincoln Avenue, 135th Street, and Third Avenue onto the bridge, and 128th Street, Second Avenue and 122nd Street to return to First Avenue. A direct connection from Southern Boulevard to the Third Avenue Bridge was later built. On June 4, 1951, First and Second Avenues were made into a one-way pair north of Houston Street, moving northbound NY 1A south of 23rd Street and southbound NY 1A between 23rd Street and 122nd Street. The NY 1A designation was completely removed c. 1962.