Editing Lincoln Tunnel (section)

== Route numbering ==
{{infobox road small
|state=NY
|type=NY
|route=495
|location=[[Manhattan]]
|length_mi=1.09
|length_ref=<ref name="log">{{cite book |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/tour_route.pdf |title=Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Scenic Byways & Bicycle Routes in New York State |author=New York State Department of Transportation |date=October 2004 |pages=44 |access-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-date=January 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116095147/https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/tour_route.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|deleted=1958
}}

[[File:NY 9A north exit 5.jpg|thumb|Old "I-495 Lincoln Tunnel" sign, still in situ along the West Side Highway]]

Originally, the Lincoln Tunnel would have connected to the [[Queens-Midtown Tunnel]], on the other side of Manhattan, via the [[Mid-Manhattan Expressway]].<ref name=Courier-NewTunnel-1938/> Manhattan Borough President [[Samuel Levy (politician)|Samuel Levy]] first proposed the Mid-Manhattan Expressway connector in 1936.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/09/24/archives/crosstown-tunnel-demanded-by-levy-28000000-bore-through-bed-rock.html |title=Crosstown Tunnel Demanded by Levy |date=September 24, 1936 |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 26, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084355/https://www.nytimes.com/1936/09/24/archives/crosstown-tunnel-demanded-by-levy-28000000-bore-through-bed-rock.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  Updated plans for the crosstown highway were released in 1944 and featured a connection to the then-proposed Port Authority Bus Terminal.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/10/28/archives/crosstown-tubes-for-autos-planned-midmanhattan-underpass-as-postwar.html |title=Crosstown Tubes for Autos Planned |date=October 28, 1944 |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 29, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330014814/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/10/28/archives/crosstown-tubes-for-autos-planned-midmanhattan-underpass-as-postwar.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The plans were eventually changed to a crosstown tunnel across 30th Street, and the city approved a preliminary survey for the crosstown tunnel.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/06/15/archives/planners-approve-survey-for-tunnel-commission-votes-for-study-of-a.html |title=Planners Approve Survey for Tunnel |date=June 15, 1950 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 4, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405041821/https://www.nytimes.com/1950/06/15/archives/planners-approve-survey-for-tunnel-commission-votes-for-study-of-a.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The city briefly held up plans for the Lincoln Tunnel's southernmost tube in 1951 and 1952 because it wanted the Port Authority to build part of the expressway, although this requirement was later dropped.<ref name="Ingraham 1952" /> The [[Interstate 495 (New York)|Interstate 495]] (I-495) designation was assigned to the New Jersey approach to the tunnel in anticipation of the Mid-Manhattan Expressway being completed.<ref name="1965map">{{cite map |title=Metropolitan New York City Area, Tourgide {{sic |nolink=y |intended=This is a brand called "Tourgide"}} map |author1 = Gulf Oil Corporation |author2 = Rand McNally and Company |year = 1965 |scale = 1:364,152 |location = Pittsburgh, PA |publisher = Gulf Oil Corporation |inset=Metropolitan New York City area, including Westchester County, N.Y., and northeastern New Jersey|oclc=246639605}}</ref>

The Mid-Manhattan Expressway project was ultimately canceled and the I-495 designation removed from the expressway on January 1, 1970.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.greaternyroads.info/pdfs/state70.pdf |title=Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State |author=[[State of New York Department of Transportation]] |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=June 25, 2010 |archive-date=March 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326062441/http://www.greaternyroads.info/pdfs/state70.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the I-495 designation in New Jersey remained for some time, as it was anticipated that it would remain part of the Interstate Highway System. Much of the New Jersey stretch of I-495 became Route&nbsp;495 in 1979.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/00000495__-.pdf |title=Route 495 Straight Line Diagram |year=2006 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Transportation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321122259/http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/00000495__-.pdf |archive-date=March 21, 2006 |access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> The [[Westway (Manhattan)|Westway]] project, proposed in 1971,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/04/archives/city-proposes-a-new-west-side-highway.html |title=City Proposes a New West Side Highway |last=Prial |first=Frank J. |date=April 4, 1971 |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 19, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320044126/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/04/archives/city-proposes-a-new-west-side-highway.html |url-status=live }}</ref> called for building an [[Interstate 478|I-478]] to link [[Interstate 278|I-278]] in [[Brooklyn]], [[Interstate 78 in New York|I-78]] at the Holland Tunnel, and I-495 at the Lincoln Tunnel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/01/nyregion/the-westway-project-its-history-and-future.html |title=The Westway Project: Its History and Future |date=August 1, 1981 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=April 12, 2018 |archive-date=April 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412215020/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/01/nyregion/the-westway-project-its-history-and-future.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Westway project was officially abandoned in 1985 after a series of lawsuits from environmental advocates.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/07/nyregion/the-legacy-of-westway-lessons-from-its-demise.html |title=The Legacy of Westway: Lessons from Its Demise |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=October 7, 1985 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=March 22, 2018 |language=en |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619012904/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/07/nyregion/the-legacy-of-westway-lessons-from-its-demise.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thevillager.com/villager_59/whywestwaysleepswith.html |title=Why Westway sleeps with the fishes |last1=Amateau |first1=Albert |date=June 16, 2004 |website=[[The Villager (Manhattan)|The Villager]] |location=Manhattan |access-date=June 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122348/http://thevillager.com/villager_59/whywestwaysleepswith.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The last part of I-495 in New Jersey was decommissioned the next year, and the Lincoln Tunnel was thus removed from the Interstate system.<ref>{{AASHTO minutes |year = 1986S |page = 561 |link = yes |quote = |access-date = October 16, 2014 }}</ref> In Manhattan, [[34th Street (Manhattan)|34th Street]] and other crosstown streets link the tunnel with I-495.<ref name="Google 2016" />

{{As of|2018}}, the part of the tunnel within New Jersey carries Route&nbsp;495.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/00000495__-.pdf |title=Route 495 Straight Line Diagram |author=[[New Jersey Department of Transportation]] |publisher=New Jersey Department of Transportation |location=Trenton |access-date=April 9, 2018 |archive-date=March 21, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321122259/http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/00000495__-.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> It is disputed whether the part of the tunnel within New York contains the unsigned '''New York State Route 495''' ('''NY&nbsp;495''').  A 2016 highway inventory listing from the [[New York State Department of Transportation]] (NYSDOT) considers NY 495 to be {{Convert|1.09|mi|km}} long, running through the tunnel, from the New Jersey State Line east to the intersection of Dyer Avenue and 34th Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/HighwayInventory-NewYorkCounty-2016.zip |title=New York County Inventory Listing |date=August 7, 2015 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |format=CSV |access-date=September 5, 2017 |archive-date=July 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701201050/https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/HighwayInventory-NewYorkCounty-2016.zip |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the NYSDOT also published two "official descriptions of highway touring routes" in 2004 and 2017, in which it did not consider the Lincoln Tunnel within New York to be part of NY 495. According to these documents, the NY 495 designation instead applies to part of the [[Long Island Expressway]] (I-495) in [[Queens]], and the Lincoln Tunnel does not have an official route designation.<ref name="log"/><ref name="2017log">{{cite book |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2017%20tour-bk.pdf |title=Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State |author=[[New York State Department of Transportation]] |date=January 2017 |pages=46 |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110020634/https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2017%20tour-bk.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>