Interstate 278

Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs 35.62 miles (57.32 km) from U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It serves as a partial beltway through the eastern section of New York City and passes through all five of the city's boroughs (through Manhattan only because the Triborough Bridge crosses Wards Island, which is part of Manhattan). The majority of I-278 is in New York City. I-278 follows several freeways, including the Union Freeway in Union County, New Jersey, the Staten Island Expressway (SIE) across Staten Island, the Gowanus Expressway in southern Brooklyn, the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) across northern Brooklyn and Queens, a small part of the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, and a part of the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx. I-278 also crosses multiple bridges, including the Goethals Bridge between New Jersey and Staten Island, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn, the Kosciuszko Bridge between Brooklyn and Queens, and the Triborough Bridge.

Despite its number, I-278 does not connect to I-78; however, there were once plans to extend I-278 west to I-78 east of the Route 24 interchange in Springfield, New Jersey. This was cancelled due to opposition from the communities along the route. The segment that does exist in New Jersey was opened in 1969. There were also plans to extend I-78 east across Manhattan and into Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge; this would have been a second location where the two highways would have interchanged, but these plans were also thwarted. In New York, the various parts of I-278 were planned by Robert Moses, an urban planner in New York City. Some of these completed segments predated the Interstate Highway System and are thus not up to standards. Over the years, portions of I-278 have required upgrading. In addition, they tore through many New York City neighborhoods, causing controversy. All of I-278 through New York City was completed by the 1960s. I-87 was once planned to follow the segment of I-278 between the Williamsburg Bridge and the Major Deegan Expressway, but this ultimately became a part of I-278. In addition, the Bruckner Expressway portion of I-278 had been designated with different route numbers. At first, it was to be I-895 between I-87 and the Sheridan Expressway and I-678 past there. Later, I-278 was planned to follow the Bruckner Expressway and the Sheridan Expressway to I-95 (with no route number for the Bruckner Expressway past there) before the current numbering took place by 1970, with I-895 designated onto the Sheridan Expressway.