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Belt Parkway
Reference Route 907B/907C/907D
Length:	25.29 mi[1] (40.7 km)
Formed:	1941[citation needed]
West end:	I-278 in Brooklyn
Major junctions:	I-678 in Queens NY 878 in Queens
East end:	Cross Island/Southern Pkwys in Queens
Counties:	Kings, Queens
Numbered highways in New York Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference
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The Belt Parkway, also known as the Belt System or Circumferential Parkway, is a series of limited-access highways that form a complete circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island. The system is composed of four separate parkways; however, three of the four are signed as the "Belt Parkway". The three parkways that make up the signed "Belt Parkway" are 25.29 miles (40.7 km) long.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Shore Parkway 1.2 Southern Parkway 1.3 Laurelton Parkway 1.4 Cross Island Parkway 2 History 2.1 The Belt System 2.2 Conversion and completion 3 Exit list 4 References 5 External links

The Shore Parkway, Southern Parkway, Laurelton Parkway and Cross Island Parkway are collectively known as the "Belt System".^[2] The four components of the Belt System are designated as New York State Reference Routes 907C, 907D, 907B, and 907A, respectively, all unsigned reference routes. Excluding the Cross Island Parkway, the other three segments are now known collectively as the official "Belt Parkway". It is designated an east-west route, and its exit numbering system begins, in standard fashion, at the western terminus of the Shore Parkway, the westernmost parkway in the system. The numbering increases as the parkway proceeds eastward, and continues onto the Cross Island at the eastern terminus of the Belt Parkway. The north-south parkway retains the numbering scheme to its northern terminus.

The Shore Parkway begins at the Gowanus Expressway near the east end of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and proceeds westward through Brooklyn. The Shore, the part of the system most people think of when they mention "Belt Parkway," makes a large arc to the south, passing under the Narrows bridge and entering the Coney Island area. The parkway turns east, roughly following the former path of Coney Island Creek before skipping across former islands in Jamaica Bay to reach the Southern Parkway. The Shore Parkway Greenway lies between the Parkway and the shore, connecting Owl's Head Park to Coney Island and Sheephead Bay to Howard Beach.

Shore Road Drive parallels the first stretch of the Shore Parkway. Exit 1 is for the Shore Road Drive. The road makes a curve to the south after Exit 1 and heads towards the Verrazano Bridge. The Shore Parkway goes through Shore Road Park until Exit 2, which is for Shore Road and 4th Avenue, both parts of the former State Route 439. Exits 2 and 3 are westbound only, while going eastbound, the next exit is number 4. Exit 3 is for the Verrazano Narrows Bridge towards Staten Island. In Dyker Beach Park, Exit 4 interchanges for Bay 8th Street. Exit 5 is next, for the Bay Parkway, which heads northward towards Queens.

Exit 6 going westbound is for Cropsey Avenue, which heads towards Coney Island. Exit 6 in the westbound direction is split into Exits 6S and 6N. Exit 6N has access to Stillwell Avenue. Exit 7 going eastbound is for Ocean Parkway while westbound it is for Shell Boulevard and is numbered 7A. Exit 7B going westbound is for the Ocean Parkway as well. Exit 8 going westbound is the first signed exit for Coney Island. The exit is also for East 14th Street. Exit 9A going eastbound is for Knapp Street and Sheepshead Bay. Exit 9B comes right after and is for Emmons Avenue. Exits 11S and 11N make a full cloverleaf interchange for Flatbush Avenue.

Exit 13 is next for Rockaway Parkway, which begins at a traffic circle. Exit 14 comes after for Pennsylvania Avenue. As the Shore Parkway gets closer to Jamaica, Exit 15 comes for Erskine Street. After exits 17S and 17N for State Route 27 and Cross Bay Boulevard, the road becomes known as the Southern Parkway.

The Southern Parkway, distinct from the Southern State Parkway in Nassau and Suffolk counties, is located entirely within the median of Conduit Boulevard between Cross Bay Boulevard and Brookville Boulevard. Just west of Brookville, the Southern exits the median, turning to the northeast and becoming the Laurelton Parkway.

The Laurelton Parkway is a short connector between the Southern Parkway and the Cross Island Parkway. At exit 25A (Southern State Parkway), the Laurelton, as well as the Belt Parkway, becomes the Cross Island Parkway.

Main article: Cross Island Parkway

The Cross Island Parkway continues north from the interchange with the Southern State Parkway near the border of Nassau County, then west to the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, where it terminates at the Whitestone Expressway.

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The Belt Parkway was proposed by builder and highway advocate Robert Moses in 1930 to provide modern highway access to Manhattan and to connect to, and use similar design principles to, parkways already constructed on Long Island and Westchester County, New York. Construction began in 1934. The full loop was completed when the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (also known as the "BQE") was finished in 1960.

Though some signage bears the name "Belt Parkway," the original plan never called for a highway of that name, rather a system of different named parkways called the "Belt System." The Belt System is made up of a series of interconnecting highways, none of which are actually named the Belt Parkway. Originally, the highways were the Gowanus Parkway from the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to the Shore Parkway; the entirety of the Shore, Southern, Laurelton, and Cross Island Parkways; the Whitestone Parkway from the Cross Island to the Grand Central Parkway; and the Grand Central from the Whitestone to the Triborough Bridge.

All the original parkways, except the Gowanus, were built on grassy rights-of-way with trees, in a more pleasant surrounding than most highways of their time. The Gowanus Parkway was built as an elevated structure over Third and Hamilton Avenues in order to avoid the active docks and industrial areas including Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Like most parkways in New York State, the parkways comprising the Belt System were closed to commercial traffic, including any vehicle with a non-passenger registration and all commercial trucking of any size. Originally even station wagons, which had "suburban" registrations, were excluded but they were later allowed, along with passenger-registered SUVs and vans.

The system was not completed as a parkway, and some portions of the original system were converted to expressways, which allows commercial traffic to use them. These expressway portions included the Gowanus Expressway, replacing Gowanus Parkway as a connector between Manhattan and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island and New Jersey (now signed as part of Interstate 278); Whitestone Expressway, which converted Whitestone Parkway into a truck route to connect the Van Wyck Expressway to the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge (now signed as part of Interstate 678); and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, built as an expressway to connect the Gowanus Parkway/Expressway to the Triborough Bridge and Grand Central Parkway to complete the system (now signed as part of Interstate 278).

County	Location	Mile[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Kings	Bay Ridge	0.00		I-278 east – Queens, Bronx	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			1	65th-67th Streets
	Fort Hamilton	3.38	2	4th Avenue, Fort Hamilton Parkway - Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
			3	I-278 west (Verrazano-Narrows Bridge) – Staten Island	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Bath Beach	4.47	4	Bay 8th Street, 14th Avenue
	Bensonhurst	5.63	5	Bay Parkway
	Coney Island	6.73	6	Cropsey Avenue, Stillwell Avenue – Coney Island	Signed as exits 6S (south) and 6N (north) westbound
	Brighton Beach		7A	Shell Road - Coney Island	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; formerly part of exit 7S
		7.81	7B	Ocean Parkway	Signed as exit 7 eastbound; formerly split into exits 7S and 7N
		7.89	8	Coney Island Avenue
	Sheepshead Bay	9.69	9	Knapp Street – Sheepshead Bay	Two exits - 9A and 9B - eastbound; both lead to Knapp Street
	Floyd Bennett Field	11.09	11	Flatbush Avenue - Rockaways, Marine Park	Signed as exits 11S (south) and 11N (north)
	Bergen Beach			Jamaica Bay Riding Academy	Eastbound exit and entrance
	Canarsie	14.38	13	Rockaway Parkway
	Starrett City	15.42	14	Pennsylvania Avenue
			15	Erskine Street
Queens	Howard Beach	17.91	17	Cross Bay Boulevard, Cohancy Street - Woodhaven, Rockaways	Signed as exits 17S (south) and 17N (north) westbound
			17W	North Conduit Avenue (NY 27 west)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	South Ozone Park	18.30	18B	Lefferts Boulevard – Aqueduct Racetrack	Eastbound exit is part of exit 19
			19	NY 878 north (Nassau Expressway) / I-678 (Van Wyck Expressway) – Kennedy Airport, Whitestone Bridge	Westbound exit only connects to I-678 west; access to NY 878 and Kennedy Airport is via exit 20
			20	JFK Expressway - Kennedy Airport	Eastbound exit is via exit 19
	Springfield Gardens	20.45	21A	150th Street, Rockaway Boulevard	Signed as exit 20 eastbound
		22.29	21B	Farmers Boulevard, Guy R. Brewer Boulevard
			22	Springfield Boulevard
	Laurelton	23.67	23A	North Conduit Avenue (NY 27 west), 225th Street	Westbound exit only
		23.67	23B	NY 27 east (Sunrise Highway)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			24A	Francis Lewis Boulevard	No westbound entrance
		24.26	24B	Merrick Boulevard	Eastbound exit is via exit 24A
			24B	130th Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		25.29	25A	Southern State Parkway – Eastern Long Island	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		25.29		Cross Island Parkway – Whitestone Bridge	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

• Belt Parkway Historic Overview at Steve Anderson's nycroads.com
• Belt Parkway (Greater New York Roads)

v • d • e Parkways in New York City
Manhattan	FDR East River Drive - Harlem River Drive - Henry Hudson
The Bronx	Bronx River - Henry Hudson - Hutchinson River - Mosholu - Pelham
Brooklyn-Queens	Belt Parkway system: Cross Island - Laurelton - Shore - Southern Others: Grand Central - Jackie Robinson (Interborough) Former: Gowanus - Whitestone - Long Island Motor Parkway
Staten Island	Korean War Veterans (Richmond) Former: Willowbrook - Proposed: Wolfe's Pond