JFK Expressway
| Company type | Limited-access roadway |
|---|---|
| Industry | Transportation |
| Founded | December 1991 |
| Headquarters | Queens, New York City , United States |
Area served | John F. Kennedy International Airport, Queens, New York City |
| Owner | Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |
The JFK Expressway is a limited-access roadway that connects the Belt Parkway to John F. Kennedy International Airport located in Queens, New York City. It links up with the Nassau Expressway (New York State Route 878) near the proposed southern terminus of the Clearview Expressway (I-295). Finished in December 1991, it stands as the newest expressway constructed within New York City.
Route description
Beginning within the confines of JFK Airport, the expressway features southbound exits leading to Terminals 1, 4, and 5 through 7, along with parking facilities for Terminals 4 and 5. The northbound lanes provide access to all these terminals and include an exit ramp to Interstate 678 (Van Wyck Expressway), which serves long-term parking areas, rental car returns, and terminal drop-offs. Additionally, there is a southbound on-ramp originating from I-678.
Heading north, this six-lane freeway passes beneath airport taxiways via a tunnel and intersects with South Cargo Road, granting entry to cargo zones, medical centers, a veterinary port, airport operations, and routes for returning to terminals. It continues further north to an interchange at 150th Street that serves long-term parking, rental car return locations, and general aviation facilities, though it lacks a northbound exit at this point.
At the Kennedy Airport Interchange, the expressway links with NY 878 (Nassau Expressway), providing northbound exits to eastbound lanes that access Rockaway Boulevard and two-way connections to westbound lanes connecting I-678 and the Belt Parkway. Before merging into the eastbound Belt Parkway, there is a northbound exit and a southbound entrance connecting to eastbound NY 27 (South Conduit Avenue).
Near NY 27, an unfinished southbound stub ramp was originally planned to extend westward along NY 878 toward Cross Bay Boulevard; however, this $80 million project was abandoned in 1995.
The JFK Expressway is situated almost entirely on JFK Airport property and is maintained by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which also oversees sections of the Van Wyck Expressway within airport boundaries as well as all other airport roadways.
History
The construction of the JFK Expressway was part of an extensive redevelopment of Kennedy Airport initiated in the late 1980s. Initially referred to as the 150th Street Airport Expressway after the roadway it replaced, this infrastructure project aimed to enhance airport accessibility.
Prior to the expressway’s development, the corridor was occupied by Cornell Creek, which flowed through Beaver Pond and Baisley Pond into Jamaica Bay. The creek was routed underground during airport construction, with 150th Street established alongside its former path.
The Van Wyck Expressway (Interstate 678), which opened in 1950, originally provided the sole expressway connection to JFK Airport by linking it with the Grand Central Parkway and later extending northward to the Whitestone Expressway. Due to significant traffic congestion on this route, a second expressway directly serving JFK became necessary.
During the 1960s, the Port Authority proposed what would become the JFK Expressway as an additional east-side highway. This route was designed to connect with a southern extension of the Clearview Expressway (now Interstate 295), offering an alternate north–south corridor and access to the Throgs Neck Bridge. Depending on how Clearview was routed, this connection would be either direct or via the Nassau Expressway.
The Clearview Expressway was completed in 1963 as part of Interstate 78 but only reached as far south as Hillside Avenue due to opposition from local communities. Plans for extending it further south toward Conduit Avenue and across Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan were ultimately canceled by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1971.
Around 1986, the initial section of the JFK Expressway opened at its junction with the Nassau Expressway and 150th Street, establishing a second primary entrance to the airport. The entire expressway was finalized in 1991.