Page "New York State Route 440" Paragraph 7

NY 440 was initially designated in 1949 as a continuation of New Jersey's Route 440.

The route began at the Outerbridge Crossing and ended at the Bayonne Bridge, as it does today ; however, the route was originally routed on Drumgoole Boulevard and Richmond Avenue in between the two bridges.

In the early 1950s, proposals surfaced for the Willowbrook Parkway, which would extend from Staten Island Marine Park ( later Great Kills Park and now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area ) on the island's East Shore to the Bayonne Bridge via Egbertville and Bulls Head.

A second highway, the West Shore Expressway, was proposed.

As proposed, it would begin at the Outerbridge Crossing and run along the west shore of Staten Island to meet the Clove Lakes Expressway ( I-278 ) near the Goethals Bridge.

When the West Shore Expressway was completed in 1976, the Temporary NY 440 designation was eliminated while NY 440 was shifted westward to follow the West Shore and Clove Lakes Expressways between Huguenot Avenue and the Willowbrook Expressway.