Springfield Blvd / 225th Street Overpasses - Sunrise Highway / Brookville Boulevard exit
Photo Gallery: Belt Pkwy
| The eastbound Belt Parkway nearing the Springfield Boulevard overpass on its way to the Sunrise Highway / Brookville Boulevard exit along the borders of the Springfield Gardens and Rosedale neighborhoods, Rosedale being to the right. Springfield Boulevard is a major secondary north-south road north of the Belt, coursing through Springfield Gardens, Laurelton, St. Albans, Cambria Heights, Queens Village, Oakland Gardens and Bayside on its way to far off Northern Boulevard. South of the Belt, however, Springfield quickly disintegrates in stature to the point where before hitting 147th Avenue, it looks like a little back country road out of a book of early 20th century Queens photos. In fact, for a number of years, the last block down to 147th street was closed off, filled with weeds rising all the way up to the abandoned streetlights, which remained 1960's vintage General Electric M400's missing their glass refractors. I don't know when it was, but at some point, it was resurrected, refitted with new luminaires and reopened. Even further south, of 147th, Springfield once meandered all the way past the runways of John F. Kennedy Airport down to Rockaway Boulevard, but I doubt that even the most renowned archeologist could locate the remains of that section today. |
| 225th Street is the last overpass before the Sunrise exit and sharp curve to the left. It glides over the last of the Southern Parkway set of look-alike hard cornered elliptical arch overpasses that begin back in Ozone Park with Cohancy Street. Southern was once the name of the Ozone to Laurelton section of the Belt Parkway System. Back in the 1960's and 70's, it even had a NY State Route designation 27a. Along with its Shore Parkway brother in Brooklyn and Laurelton Parkway sister northeast of the approaching Sunrise-LIRR curve, Southern lost its identity when the Belt Parkway System became the Belt Parkway Period! Nobody I know ever called this the Southern anyway, although a great number of folks did call the Laurelton the Laurelton, and many still do. A lesser number called the Shore the Shore and I suppose some of them still do, and in spots the Belt service road in Brooklyn retains the Shore name. The big green directionals, however, only refer to the Belt now, as the Belt. Taken in motion, mid May 2003, by my new star co-photographer and fiance, Rosaura Murillo. |