Glance: West Side Expressway (I-78, I-778)

Henry Hudson Parkway Near the George Washington Bridge (Source: David Golub)

Since others have already covered this, this will be a summary as well as a glance.

West Side Expressway (I-78, I-778)

Battery Park to 59th Street

The West Side Highway would be built as a tunneled segment. Above it, a four lane surface road, along with a greenway stretching the entire route with a Park and bike lanes. Exits for the following would be

* Holland Tunnel/Canal Street (I-78)
* Lincoln Tunnel/34th Street
* Brooklyn-Battery (Hugh L. Carey) Tunnel (I-78)

59th Street to George Washington Bridge
The Road would emerge and be elevated and follow the Henry Hudson Parkway alignment. The Henry Hudson Expressway would be rehabilitated to accommodate small truck traffic. I-778 would end at I-87, but trucks would have to depart after the GWB.

Can it Be Done
Ideally, Yes, Realistically, No. The Westway ship has been a dead one for many years and while vital as it could be, it would not be built in today's environment. Boston's Big Dig, which despite its benefits, saw massive issues related to flooding and irrigation and those issues could be prominent here. More likely, the West Side Highway would remain as is, if not reduced to four lanes and altered as part of the city's de facto "No Cars" Policy