West Broadway (Five Towns, New York)
West Broadway | |
|---|---|
| Nassau County Route E51 | |
West Broadway highlighted in red | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by NCDPW | |
| Length | 2.15 mi[1] (3.46 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| South end | Rockaway Turnpike (CR 257) / Burnside Avenue (CR C27) in Cedarhurst |
| Prospect Avenue in Cedarhurst Woodmere Boulevard (CR E68) in Woodmere Franklin Avenue in Hewlett Mill Road (CR D58) in Hewlett | |
| North end | Broadway (CR C22) in Hewlett |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Nassau |
| Highway system | |
West Broadway is a major, 2.15-mile (3.46 km) road between Cedarhurst and Hewlett in the Five Towns area of Nassau County, New York, United States.
Owned by Nassau County and maintained by the Nassau County Department of Public Works, the road, in its entirety, is designated as the unsigned County Route E51.[2][3]
Route description
West Broadway begins at an intersection with Rockaway Turnpike (CR 257) and Burnside Avenue (CR C27) in the Incorporated Village of Cedarhurst; a traffic triangle, featuring a park, is present at the intersection, along West Broadway.[2][3][4][5] From there, it then winds its way through the village, soon reaching Prospect Avenue. It then enters Woodmere, continuing east-northeast to Woodmere Boulevard (CR E68).
From its intersection with Woodmere Boulevard, West Broadway then continues east-northeast, entering Hewlett and reaching Mill Road (CR D58), thence crossing the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch and ending at Broadway (CR C22), ultimately merging into it.[2][3]
West Broadway is primarily classified as a major collector roadway by the New York State Department of Transportation – although its westernmost and easternmost ends are classified as a minor arterial highway. The entirety of the road is eligible for federal aid.[4][5]
Much like Broadway to its south, West Broadway has long been one of the major thoroughfares through the Five Towns.[6][7]
History
In the 1940s, there was a failed proposal to eliminate West Broadway's grade crossing by elevating the Far Rockaway Branch through the area. West Broadway would then pass underneath the tracks.[8] However, this project never materialized, and as of 2025, the grade crossing remains.[2][5]
In the 1950s, when Nassau County upgraded and extended Peninsula Boulevard to serve as the main thoroughfare through the Five Towns, West Broadway – like Broadway, itself – was bypassed, in turn providing traffic relief along the corridor.[6]
Route number
Beginning in 1959, when the Nassau County Department of Public Works created a numbered highway system as part of their "Master Plan" for the county highway system, West Broadway was originally designated as County Route 10.[9][10][11] This route, along with all of the other county routes in Nassau County, became unsigned in the 1970s, when Nassau County officials opted to remove the signs as opposed to allocating the funds for replacing them with new ones that met the latest federal design standards and requirements stated in the federal government's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.[12][13] Subsequently, Nassau County renumbered many of its county roads, with West Broadway being renumbered as CR E51.[9][10]
Major intersections
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedarhurst–Lawrence line | 0.00 | 0.00 | Rockaway Turnpike (CR 257) and Burnside Avenue (CR C27) | Roadway continues west as Burnside Avenue (CR C27) | |
| Cedarhurst | 0.77 | 1.24 | Prospect Avenue | ||
| Woodmere | 1.35 | 2.17 | Woodmere Boulevard (CR E68) | ||
| Hewlett | 1.92 | 3.09 | Franklin Avenue | Access to Hewlett LIRR station | |
| 2.07 | 3.33 | Mill Road (CR D58) | |||
| 2.15 | 3.46 | Broadway (CR C22) | Merges into Broadway | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
Transportation
As of September 2025, one Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus route travels along West Broadway: the n31.[14][15] This bus route travels along the entire road and runs between Far Rockaway, Queens and the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in the Village of Hempstead.[14][15]
See also
References
- ^ a b "CR C22" (PDF). NYSDOT Local Highway Inventory. Retrieved September 7, 2025.
- ^ a b c d New York State Department of Transportation (2021). "County Roads Listing: Nassau County" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c "My Roads". Nassau County, NY. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "New York State Roadway Inventory System Viewer". gis.dot.ny.gov. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ a b c "New York State Department of Transportation Functional Class Viewer". gis.dot.ny.gov. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
- ^ a b "Boulevard Extension Approved". Newsday. April 27, 1954. p. 29.
- ^ "OPINION; High in the Saddle, High on Life". The New York Times. July 22, 2001. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
- ^ "Plan $2 Million RR Grade Elimination Job at Hewlett". Newsday. April 15, 1947. p. 16 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Anderson, Steve. "A Brief History of County Roads in Nassau and Suffolk Counties". NYCRoads. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "Lynbrook quadrangle, New York - Map Collections". Retrieved January 12, 2023 – via Brooklyn Public Library.
- ^ Nassau County Department of Public Works (1959). "Master Plan for Nassau County". Nassau County Department of Public Works.
- ^ "Nassau-Suffolk County Road History". January 3, 2009. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
- ^ Anderson, Steve. "County Roads on Long Island". NYCRoads. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
- ^ a b "Long Island Zoning Atlas". Long Island Index Maps. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
- ^ a b "Nassau Inter-County Express - Maps and Schedules". nicebus.com. Retrieved July 28, 2025.