Major Deegan Expressway

9.80 Miles

This expressway honors Major William F. Deegan (1882-1932), an influential Bronx veteran, architect, and politician. William Francis Deegan was the son of Irish immigrants and studied architecture at Cooper Union in Manhattan. At age 25, when World War I broke out, he served as a staff officer in the 105th Field Artillery. Later during the war, he served as a major with the Army Corps of Engineers under General George W. Goethals (1858-1928, another important piece of transportation infrastructure, the Goethals Bridge between Staten Island and New Jersey, is named for him), and oversaw the construction of army bases in the New York City area.

After the war, Deegan distinguished himself as a public servant. He worked to build a support network for veterans of military service, and played an integral part in founding the American Legion in 1919. In addition to his work as an architect (he worked for many important firms, including McKim, Mead, and White), Deegan, a Bronx Democrat, served as president of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce and as the Tenement Housing Commissioner under Mayor James T. Walker. He also held the position of chairman of the Mayor’s Committee for Welcoming Distinguished Guests (the city’s official greeter). He died on April 4, 1932, following an appendectomy.

The six-lane Major Deegan Expressway follows the Bronx shore of the Harlem River for eight and a half miles, from the Triborough Bridge to the New York Thruway. It connects the Bronx to upstate New York, and it passes by important Bronx landmarks including Yankee Stadium and the regal High Bridge. The expressway passes by many bridges that link Bronx and Manhattan including the University Heights, Washington, Macombs Dam, Madison Avenue, Willis Avenue, and Third Avenue Bridges.

The Major Deegan Expressway was constructed piecemeal. On April 30, 1937, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia renamed the westerly approach to the Triborough Bridge the Major William F. Deegan Boulevard. Meanwhile, former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses was planning a “relief route” connecting the Bruckner and Cross Bronx Expressways to ease congestion on the Henry Hudson and Bronx River Parkways. The first portion of Moses’s project, which connected the Triborough Bridge and the Grand Concourse, was laid out in 1939. Five years later, Moses had built a stretch of highway running north along the former route of River Road. In 1956, Moses extended the highway from 144th Street through Van Cortlandt Park and officially named it the Major Deegan Expressway. It was designated as part of Interstate 87 in 1958. Today, more than 125,000 vehicles use the Major Deegan Expressway every day.

The expressway recently underwent several renovations intended to increase safety, including the elimination of two of the six lanes at certain critical junctions, the widening of paved shoulders, and the creation of designated ramp lanes. These improvements increase the ease with which the commuter can access the five boroughs and points north of New York City on the Major Deegan Expressway.

Friday, Mar 09, 2001