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Highway in New York

I 678 begins at JFK Airport in the borough of Queens and proceeds along the stretch of highway known as the Van Wyck Expressway. I 678 progresses westward through the airport, crossing under airport taxiways as a six lane freeway. Just after the taxiways, the expressway connects with North Service Road, which services the airport's western services. From there, the expressway begins to turn northward and crosses the United Airlines hangar. I 678 continues its northwestern path, curving to the northeast at the interchange with Federal Circle. From there, the highway continues northward, becoming a divided highway and meeting NY 878 (the Nassau Expressway) at exit 1E. I 678 continues northward to the Kennedy Airport Interchange, where it crosses under the Nassau Expressway and over NY 27 east (South Conduit Avenue) and the Belt Parkway, and then over NY 27 west (North Conduit Avenue) at exit 1B. At this point the highway exits the facility of JFK Airport and maintenance switches to the New York State Department of Transportation. North of North Conduit Avenue, AirTrain JFK's elevated people mover structure begins to run above the expressway's median, and the Van Wyck descends to an open cut structure. After entering Jamaica, the Van Wyck crosses under a complex, two level Long Island Rail Road structure with 13 tracks. Afterward, the expressway intersects Lafayette Avenue. North of Lafayette Avenue is the Bruckner Interchange, where I 678's designation ends and the highway continues northward as the Hutchinson River Parkway. At its north end, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge would connect to Eastern Boulevard (later known as Bruckner Boulevard) via the Hutchinson River Parkway. The bridge's south end would connect to a new Whitestone Parkway, which led southwest off the bridge to Northern Boulevard. Just south of the bridge, there was to be a three level interchange between the Whitestone Parkway and the Cross Island Parkway. Plans for the bridge were completed by February 1937, at which time the state started issuing bonds to fund bridge construction. The right of way for the Whitestone Bridge and Parkway was legally designated in July 1937. The Whitestone Bridge and Parkway both opened on April 29, 1939. Construction on the bridge and parkway had been accelerated in preparation for the 1939 New York World's Fair, In 1953, work began on an interchange between Willets Point Boulevard, Northern Boulevard, and Whitestone Parkway, at the parkway's southern end.

In the 1940s, Moses proposed the construction of a system of highways that would traverse the New York City area. The plan was to cost $800 million (equivalent to $ in ), and, in 1945, the city agreed to pay $60 million (equivalent to $ in ) of that cost. Among them was the Van Wyck Expressway, which would stretch from Idlewild Airport (now JFK Airport) in the south to Queens Boulevard in the north. and it was to cost $11.65 million. The original street and the freeway were both named after former New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck, but the pronunciation of "Wyck" was heavily disputed: depending on the person, "Wyck" could rhyme with either "lick" or "like". The Van Wyck Expressway was to be built to higher standards than New York's parkways, as it was intended to handle truck traffic. The highway would contain three lanes in each direction, as well as cobblestone shoulders. Several parks and playgrounds were also built along the expressway's route. The city had acquired 355 houses in the expressway's path, as well as the Van Wyck Avenue Congregational Church. One four story apartment building, which housed 35 families, was placed on metal rollers and relocated away from the expressway's path. Normally, new houses would have been built for these families, but there was not enough land to build individual homes for these families. After some of the houses were relocated, they were sold to military veterans at reduced prices. The first major contract for the Van Wyck Expressway's construction was awarded in September 1947, when Rusciano and Son was contracted to build retaining walls and utilities along the expressway's right of way. Construction was delayed several times; the state government had rejected bids for several major contracts, saying the bids were too high. One of the most complex aspects of the project was the replacement of an overpass carrying the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) near the Jamaica station. The LIRR overpass alone cost $3.2 million, as contractors could not interrupt service on the LIRR corridor, which carried 1,635 trains every twenty four hours. The final construction contract for the Van Wyck's first segment was awarded in January 1950. with a ceremony attended by New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. The new highway reduced driving time between Idlewild and Manhattan by 20 percent. Later the same year, the Gull Construction Company was contracted to install "safety plantings" in the median, consisting of shrubs and trees, to separate the different directions of traffic. New York state officials announced in 1960 that they would install a Jersey barrier in the Van Wyck's median, replacing the plantings, which had not been effective in preventing crashes. In April 1949, Dewey signed a contract authorizing a northward extension of the highway to Grand Central Parkway. This segment was to cost $11.6 million. In addition, a ramp was built from Main Street to the Van Wyck Expressway, and an overpass was built to carry Queens Boulevard above both Main Street and the highway. in September 1950. A direct ramp from the northbound Van Wyck to Queens Boulevard opened in June 1953; prior to the opening of this segment, the northbound expressway was frequently congested. The extension to Grand Central Parkway opened on November 13, 1953, but the ramps from the Van Wyck Expressway to Main Street were delayed for another year, opening in November 1954.

In December 1957, the state approved a $9.5 million (equivalent to $ in ) project to widen a 2.1 mile (3 km) segment of Whitestone Parkway from Northern Boulevard to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, build a new bridge over the Flushing River, and improve the parkway to Interstate Highway standards using funds from the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, in which the federal government would pay 90 percent of the proposed highway's cost. The parkway would be expanded from two to four lanes in each direction, and the interchange with the Cross Island Parkway would also be upgraded. The design process for the upgrade was nearing completion when the state approved the project. In early 1959, Moses formally asked the United States Army Corps of Engineers for permission to close the existing Flushing River drawbridge permanently. The drawbridge would then be upgraded to Interstate standards, and a second, fixed span would be built adjacent to the drawbridge. Flushing Meadows Park was subsequently selected to host the 1964 New York World's Fair. In advance of the World's Fair, city officials announced in early 1960 that they would upgrade the Whitestone Parkway and extend the Van Wyck Expressway northward to the Whitestone Expressway. City officials approved a $10 million (equivalent to $ in ) project to upgrade the Whitestone Parkway in May 1960, and work on the parkway began near Northern Boulevard in September 1961. Contracts for the upgrade were awarded in September 1962. The portion of the Hutchinson River Parkway south of Bruckner Boulevard and all of the Whitestone Parkway were converted to Interstate standards. The Whitestone Parkway was subsequently renamed the Whitestone Expressway, and the aforementioned segment of the Hutchinson River Parkway was renamed the Hutchinson River Expressway. The new four lane bridges over the Flushing River opened in June 1963; it temporarily carried two lanes in each direction until the old drawbridge was upgraded. The Whitestone Expressway upgrade was completed on December 12, 1963. The New York City Planning Commission approved the 3.7 mile (6 km) extension of the Van Wyck Expressway in April 1960. At the time, that project was planned to cost $3.48 million. Work on the Van Wyck Expressway Extension, as it was originally known, began in late 1961. although the Long Island Expressway and Jewel Avenue interchanges were not yet completed at the time.

As early as 1961, The New York Times had reported that the Whitestone Expressway was to be known as Interstate 678. The Whitestone and Hutchinson River expressways were designated as I 678 c. no – c. 1965. The I 678 designation was extended southward over the Van Wyck Expressway to JFK Airport on January 1, 1970. Early plans for I 678 had the highway following the Astoria Expressway, a proposed freeway that would run along the NY 25A corridor from I 278 to the Grand Central Parkway. leading to the truncation of I 78 to the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (I 278) on January 1, 1970. I 78 currently ends at the east portal of the Holland Tunnel.

In early 1988, both directions of the Whitestone Expressway near Northern Boulevard were temporarily closed because several girders in the southbound viaduct had corroded to the point that a structural failure was imminent. This part of the Whitestone Expressway, as well as the Van Wyck Expressway from Fowler Avenue south to the Long Island Expressway, were renovated in the mid 1990s. Starting in 2003, the northbound lanes of the Whitestone Expressway near Northern Boulevard were renovated. The project involved replacing a bascule bridge that had been at the location since the original parkway had opened in 1939, creating two U turn ramps, and creating a new exit ramp from eastbound Northern Boulevard to Linden Place. Previously, traffic from Northern Boulevard had to cross over three lanes of northbound traffic from the Van Wyck Expressway. The Jamaica Branch of the AirTrain JFK people mover system was built within the median of the Van Wyck from Atlantic Avenue to the Belt Parkway. Construction started in May 1998. The fact that the Jamaica Branch had to be built in the middle of the Van Wyck Expressway, combined with the varying length and curves of the track spans, caused complications during construction. One lane in each direction was closed during the off peak hours, causing congestion on the Van Wyck. The system opened in December 2003.

A $286 million (equivalent to $ in ) renovation of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge started in August 2001. The project replaced the bridge's span, among other things. The Queens and Bronx approaches were replaced in a project that started in 2008 and ended in 2015. In early 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that as part of his plan to improve JFK Airport, two traffic bottlenecks along I 678 near the airport would be removed. At the Kew Gardens Interchange, the two lane ramps between the Grand Central Parkway and the Van Wyck Expressway would be upgraded to three lanes in each direction. South of the interchange, the expressway will be expanded from three lanes to four lanes in each direction, with the new lanes being used as either high occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes) or bus lanes. These projects, combined, would cost $1.5 billion–2 billion (equivalent to $– in ). In October 2018, Cuomo released details of his $13 billion (equivalent to $ in ) plan to rebuild passenger facilities and approaches to JFK Airport. The plan included widened ramps in Kew Gardens and a fourth vehicle lane on the Van Wyck Expressway south of Kew Gardens. In addition, northbound exit 5 at Atlantic Avenue and southbound exit 4 at Liberty Avenue would be permanently closed, as these junctions are near each other. Were the proposal approved, construction would begin in early 2020 and would be completed three years later. Also in 2017, NYSDOT began renovating an overpass that carried Jewel Avenue above I 678. The Jewel Avenue overpass was completed in 2019 and cost $13 million. In addition, the I 678 viaduct between I 495 and NY 25A was replaced in the early 2020s. The project, which consisted of the replacement of the viaduct's concrete deck, cost $124 million and was completed in February 2024.