How to Travel New York's Interstate 495

Although New York's Long Island Expressway (or I-495) is popular, it travels only 71.02 miles, [1] and thus many people use this interstate as a commuter route to and from New York City and Long Island. But if you want to experience it end-to-end, it's definitely doable with this article's information.

1

Travel in New York County.

  1. Although about all you'll get through here is getting onto the Interstate within Murray Hill section of New York County, there are a number of places you can get to it, and is based on where you are when you pick it up.
    • All these routes filter together before sending you across the Queens Midtown Tunnel. [2]
      • Veering left off E 36th St, and not up 2nd Ave : The most common entrance for the interstate when coming from the south, this is also the most confusing due to the looks of the intersection, because while you are turning left from 36th Street onto 2nd Ave, you have to take a right and scoot down an alleyway which all you'll see is the next step. Keep in mind that 2nd Ave runs as a one-way street heading southbound and you'll be facing it heading your direction as you scootch down the correct area. There is a traffic light at this confusing intersection and at the corner where E 36th Street veers off to the right, you'll need to follow it to the left and watch for lanes marked "Cars Only" on the ground. [3]
      • Off E 36th Street : If you continue past that confusing intersection but keep going on E 36th street, you'll quickly come upon another entrance onto the expressway heading in the same direction, just after the quick median sticks block a quicker turn. It's another left turn, but at the end of the "onramp", there's another marked traffic light (as per Google Maps on PC). Keep in mind that E 36th Street is a one-way street running eastbound. [4]
      • Off E 37th Street : Watch for signage leading you to the "Queens Midtown Tunnel (not to either the Long Island Expressway or to I-495 ) near the traffic light where 37th Street intersects with Tunnel Approach St. Keep in mind that E 37th Street is a one-way running westbound. [5]
    • If you should be heading westbound when traveling from Queens into New York, you'll have to make a quick exit with quick thoughts. Exits in New York can be quick and with turn here/turn-there severity can be annoying if you don't know the area after coming out of the Tunnel. When heading westbound, you'll effectively have several separate exits heading onto the city streets. Here, you'll see the classic Queens Midtown Tunnel's rock walls that mark the known look of the tunnel exits that separate exiters from those entering above you. Just after you exit the tunnel, you'll be asked to pick a lane and will essentially be given three choices.
      • Towards Downtown (35th Street and westbound) : Pick the left lane, but only if you selected to use the left lane going through the Tunnel. Those in the right lane in the tunnel won't be given this option, and instead should pick the "Towards Crosstown" instead and have to circle down the block and turn at Lexington Ave instead after taking E 37th (westbound) in the correct direction following the road rules.
        • Those in the left lane in the Tunnel should follow 35th Street (west) one block to 3rd Ave and follow that towards Uptown instead.
      • Towards Crosstown (37th Street and westbound to 3rd Ave) : Pick the center lane. Each lane is separated by sticks after crossing the Tunnel, but each has its own lane heading in this direction.
      • Towards Uptown (Tunnel Exit St and northbound) : Marked as towards "Uptown", only those who are stuck in the right lane going through the Tunnel will be given this option, and at the end of this off-ramp, you'll be stuck at a traffic light.
        • There really isn't all too much difference with how Crosstown and Uptown differ in their exit points, except for the direction that the exit slants, in regards to where the endpoint traffics off to.
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2

Travel through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.

  1. Pick a lane between the two and remain in that lane. There is no passing with lane sticks to stop your tries, but make sure to turn on your headlights, as New York State law mandates. It currently has paperless tolling [6] and costs $6.55 (E-Z Pass) or $10.17 Toll by Mail. [7]
    • The Queens-Midtown Tunnel will take you under The Corinthian, E 37th St, Robert Moses Playground and another nearby park to the south of the United Nations Building [8] , and under FDR Drive (a popular highway) until it crosses the East River, even though the Wikipedia article says it's completely under the East River and nothing else.
    • As it passes into Queens County, you'll pass under Gantry Plaza State Park and nearby Academy for Careers in Television and Film , Borden Ave, and a point just north of Long Island City's Long Island Rail Road station [9] until it comes out near Jackson Ave and Vernon Blvd in Hunters Point.
3

Travel in Queens County.

  1. In Queens County, I-495 begins as the Queens-Midtown Expressway, travels on a southeast course until it reaches just east of Maspeth, but then turns and heads northeast until it reaches Flushing Meadows Corona Park, heads southeast for a few miles, then east until it meets the Cross Island Parkway, then northeast until it heads outside of the county in Little Neck.
    • Within Queens County, you'll have exits for Murray Hill's Borden Ave (exit 13) and NY-25A East (exit 14), Long Island City's Van Dam Street (exit 15) and Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (exit 16), I-278 and the connector to LaGuardia Airport (exit 17), Maspeth's Maurice Ave (exit 18), Elmhurst's unnumbered exit for 69th St&Grand Avenue, NY-25 (exit 19) and Junction Blvd (exit 20), Corona's 108th St (exit 21), Grand Central Parkway (22A) and I-678/Van Wyck Expresway (exit 22B/22C), Flushing's Main Street (exit 23) and Kissena Blvd (exit 24), Fresh Meadows Utopia Parkway (exit 25) and Francis Lewis Blvd (exit 26), Bayside's I-295 (exit 27), Oceania St (exit 28), Springfield Blvd (exit 29), and East Hampton Blvd (exit 30), Oakland Gardens's Cross Island Parkway to Kennedy Airport or the Whitestone Bridge (exit 31) and Little Neck's Little Neck Parkway (exit 32).
      • Begin watching for exits as the tunnel ends and the highway begins. Exit 13 comes up quickly and exits you to Borden Ave and the Pulaski Bridge.
    • After this Interstate meets with I-278 (exit 17), it becomes a two-story highway heading across Calvary Cemetery, then merges back to one level to head across Maspeth, Elmhurst, and Rego Park, then changes names to the Horace Harding Expressway crossing through Corona, the Grand Central Parkway and the Van Wyck Expressway, bypassing Kissena Park and curving back to the northern edge of Cunningham Park, connecting to the Cross Island Parkway (at exit 31), and crossing into Nassau County to become the official Long Island Expressway.
    • Just after exit 27, I-495's westbound lanes pass by the oldest and tallest New York tree (called the "Queens Giant") to it's south inside Alley Pond Park.
    • Within Queens County, you'll have plenty of tall buildings and billboards littering most of the highway on both sides.
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4

Travel in Nassau County.

  1. It passes between Lake Success and North Success through several different State Parks, then heads up to Rosslyn Heights where it levels off and heads east. It curves more as it goes through Old Westbury and points south of Jericho then forms a larger curve as it passes NY-135 near Plainview then is traveling more southeast as it exits the county.
    • Within Nassau County, there are exits for Lake Success' Lakeville Rd (exit 33), North Hills' New Hyde Park Rd (exit 34), Shelter Rock Rd (exit 35), and Searingtown Rd (exit 36), Rosslyn Heights' Willis Ave (exit 37), East Hills' Northern State Parkway (exit 38), and Glen Cove Rd (39), Jericho's NY-25 (exit 40), NY-106 and NY-107 (exit 41), and the Northern State Parkway (exit 42), Syosset's Robbins Ln (exit 43A) and South Oyster Bay Rd (exit 43) and NY-135 (exit 44), Woodbury's Manetto Hill Rd (exit 45) and Plainview's Sunnyside Blvd (exit 46), Truck Inspection Station (eastbound) and the Melville countyline Round Swamp Rd (exit 48).
      • Beginning at exit 33 and running just past exit 64, there is an HOV lane. The HOV lanes are fairly popular, but only cars carrying at least 2 occupants may use them or those listed as being "Clean Pass" between 6 am - 10 pm and 3 pm - 8 pm Monday through Friday. The HOV lanes are marked with a diamond symbol on the signs above the lane, as the left-most lane of the three lanes when they are used. There is one HOV lane each for both east and westbound alike and there is a median between them separating the directions of travel.
      • Within Nassau County, I-495 is the only highway that doesn't intersect the Meadowbrook or Wantagh State Parkways.
      • Inside Nassau County, fewer billboards and establishments dot the edges of the highway, and there are more soundproofing walls along the edges. The highway runs a total of 3 lanes deep in each direction (with the exception of the time before the beginning of the HOV lane.)
        • Residents don't like the sound of the cars on the highway as they built homes very close to the highway on embankments looking over them, and some of these soundproofing walls are quite high.
      • Popular here is exit 38 to the Northern State Parkway and Meadowbrook State Parkway South towards Jones Beach, exit 40 for an entrance onto NY-25 (Jericho Turnpike), exit 42 to the Northern State Parkway, and the connection to NY-135 at exit 44 towards Seaford and Syosset in Suffolk County.
      • This highway and the Northern State Parkway run parallel and meet in three places, but only cross once at exit 46.
5

Travel in Suffolk County.

  1. In Suffolk County, the expressway runs southeast until it reaches a curve at the border and heads back northeast until it reaches Dix Hills and heads more straight east until it reaches Yaphank to which it heads northeast again up until it reaches the final connector route - discussed later.
    • While in Suffolk County, expect exits for Melville's NY-110 (exit 49), and Bagatelle Rd (exit 50), Dix Hills' NY-231 (exit 51) and the Rest Area/Long Island Welcome Center eastbound and at exit 52 Commack Rd/CR-4, Brentwood's Sagtikos State Parkway (exit 53) and Wicks Rd (exit 54) and Motor Parkway (exit 55), Hauppauge's NY-111 (exit 56), Islandia's NY-454 (exit 57) and Old Nichols Rd (exit 58), Ronkonkoma's Ocean Ave (exit 59), Lake Ronkonkoma CR-29 (exit 60), Holbrook's Patchogue-Holbrook Rd (exit 61), Holtsville's Nicolls Rd (exit 62) and at the Holbrook-Farmingville-Medford tripoint the North Ocean Ave (exit 63), Medford's NY-112 (exit 64) the end of the HOV lanes at 54.29 miles (87.37 km) and Horse Block Rd (exit 65), Yaphank's Sills Rd (exit 66), Yaphank Ave (exit 67), and the William Floyd Pkwy (exit 68), Manorville's Wading River Rd (exit 69), CR-111 (exit 70) and NY-24 (exit 71) and Calverton's Middle Country Rd (exit 72) and Old Country Rd (exit 73).
      • By the time the expressway travels into Suffolk County, the roadway widens so that each direction holds four lanes of traffic, including the HOV lane. It travels like this until about Patchogue's exit 64, and about where the HOV lane ends. [10]
      • As the HOV lane ends in three lanes in each direction, the barrier changes to a wide, grassy median, and the highway becomes more concrete (as opposed to asphalt as used earlier). Even the streetlights disappear, as the highway runs into more-rural towns. [11]
      • Towards the end of the Expressway, things get hairy quickly. exit 68 - William Floyd Parkway marks the last of the service roads. Exit 70 is the last complete interchange from both directions. After exit 71, the Expressway lessens to just two lanes in each direction, and by exits 72 and 73, that narrows even further with exits happening simultaneously in each direction (where before 2008, it combined to one lane and exited two separate exits one quickly after the other.
      • If you take the Expressway long enough, you'll be diverted onto a ramp onto CR-58 which essentially runs eastbound.
      • Popular exits for the Expressway in Suffolk County include exit 55's Motor Parkway towards Central Islip, and exit 72's NY-25 towards Riverhead and Calverton - although on a busy day, anything out here could cause trouble due to being so remote.
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6

Learn about the final connector route.

  1. If you take exit 73 (Old Country Rd/CR-58), it's a relatively short route that will take you out to a point just south of Aquebogue and the connection to NY-25 (which you can get to from the previous exit at exit 72).
    • Exit 72 is the way if you want a highway, and with both east and westbound exits to the road from the Expressway, NY-25 may be your better choice. NY-25 can take you further east than Aquebogue leading you out to Mattituck, Cutchogue, and even out to Stony Brook and out into the Sound (heading eastbound) or towards Selden, Centereach, or Commack, or additional alternate routes that can take you back where you began, to make the drive more palatable to the needs of most.

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    Will it take me to the New Jersey Turnpike?
    Christopher
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    Technically no, it's for Long Island. There were plans to build an extension that would have taken you across New York City into New Jersey (to the New Jersey Turnpike), but these plans stopped and you'll have to take an alternate route to get there instead.
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      Tips

      • Learn about early extension projects that once dotted the project's early thoughts. The Long Island Expressway once had some preplanned projects that would've connected it to several spots.
        • One would have run out to the end of the 'Sound and up into Connecticut. But these visions never fully began because the lobbying wasn't good enough in the late 1970s. [12] One crossing would have brought it up to I-95 in Guilford or Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and one at the Rhode Island-Connecticut border. [13] So much so that CR-48 was supposed to be part of one of these extensions of the Expressway.
        • The other project - the Mid-Manhattan expressway would have connected NY-495 (and its Lincoln Tunnel), stretched across Manhattan and connected it to the present-day route containing the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Wikipedia mentions its other exits in New York City including exits at NY-9A, 6th Avenue towards Times Square and Madison Square Park, and FDR Drive before connecting it to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel heading towards Queens where it really would have begun as the Long Island Expressway like what was built and what exists in this article. [14] But this route wasn't built and was discontinued, leaving many stranded looking for other ways to get there.
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      • Within Queens County, I-495 takes on other names, but people (in general) refer to the Long Island Expressway as I-495 in its entirety from the point it begins in New York to the point it terminates at its eastern terminus. [15] From the point of the exit of the tunnel out to the I-278 at exit 17W/E, it's called the Queens-Midtown Expressway. It then becomes the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway until it meets NY-25 (at exit 19), then it becomes the Horace Harding Expressway until it intersects with the Grand Central Parkway and I-678/Van Wyck Expressway (at exit 22A and 22B). It runs ultra-quick between exits in Queens and because of this, it uses two sets of distributor roads in this area.
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      • The Long Island Expressway to the local isn't referred to by its full name. Most locals (or near-state locals) know it by its abbreviation - the LIE - and are often referring to it by that nickname instead. Very few residents refer to it by the I-495 designation, as most people know names instead of numerical designations. However, get to understand the number as it's referred to on other documentation or on-street signage.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)
      2. ↑ https://maps.app.goo.gl/nsHzqF1Uej9JSLQK8
      3. ↑ https://maps.app.goo.gl/jXrASSzganeV2rSY8
      4. ↑ https://maps.app.goo.gl/jXrASSzganeV2rSY8
      5. ↑ https://maps.app.goo.gl/jXrASSzganeV2rSY8
      6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)
      7. ↑ https://new.mta.info/fares-and-tolls/bridges-and-tunnels/tolls-by-vehicle/cars
      8. ↑ https://maps.app.goo.gl/cqB8MLVHBLuR4q8p9
      9. ↑ https://maps.app.goo.gl/RUDkoZo28D5G5hWt5
      1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)
      2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)
      3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)
      4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)
      5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)
      6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_495_(New_York)

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