Art's Long Island Motor Parkway Site
Excellent Location
The area near today's Roosevelt Field shopping center is perhaps the best remaining location to view the route and mementos of the Long Island Motor Parkway. The Parkway is outlined in blue in the map below and headed south through Garden City via a number of backyards (left side of the map) between Russell Road and Pell Terrace. It passed over Clinton Road, west of the mall and continued east towards today's mall. The easiest way to access this location is via Raymond Ct. which lies between the Stewart Ave. entrance to Roosevelt Field and Clinton Road to the west. The Motor Parkway lies at the end of Raymond Ct. where you can either walk east (ending in view of the south end of Roosevelt Field) or west (ending at Clinton Road, near an original Motor Parkway toll lodge location - see pictures of the restored lodge elsewhere on this page). Numerous artifacts can be seen along the way as shown in the pictures that follow - especially after the area had been cleaned of brush and weeds, as had recently been done when the pictures were taken.
Clinton Road Toll Gate
Clinton Road Toll Gate
The Clinton Road Toll Gate is shown in this 1935 Hagstrom's map just prior to the Motor Parkway running east through Roosevelt Field. See current photos of this Toll Booth following its move a few frames down. Right after Roosevelt Field is another Toll Gate that sat near where Merrick Avenue currently intersects Stewart Avenue.
Here's part of a 1939 Hagstrom map of LI showing the Motor Parkway (I've added the blue for accent)running south before turning east (across Clinton Road) and crossing the Roosevelt Field/Mitchell Field airfields. Salisbury Plains train station is shown (lower right) along with the Meadow Brook Polo Fields (lower center to left). The numbers in the yellow boxes correspond to the following (starting with 81 on the top left and following the Motor Parkway south and east): 81 - Shelter Rock Country Club, 96 - Wheatley Hills Golf Club, 64 - Old Westbury Links, 46 - Meadow Brook Club, 76 - Salisbury Golf Club. More from this Hagstrom map will be offered in the Maps page shortly.
Garden City Toll Lodge
This is the restored Toll Lodge that sat on the east side of Clinton Road in Garden City (where today's Vanderbilt Drive is). The lodge has been restored and is now located on 7th Street, on the east side of Franklin Avenue at the entrance to a parking lot. It currently is the home of the Chamber of Commerce and is appropriately located directly across the street from the local AAA office. There is also a historical marker noting its significance which is also shown in the Marker page of this website.
Raymond Court Access Point
Below is a picture of the end of Raymond Ct. in July, 2003, which provides access to the Long Island Motor Parkway going east and west. This view is looking east. Walking through the woods where my Toyota sits brings you to the southern, western most edge of Roosevelt Field. Its much easier to walk through in the winter (albeit bit colder) when the vegetation is all but gone. Note that the page after this one details the path heading east towards Roosevelt Field as photographed in Feb. of 2004.
Going the opposite direction (west) through the posts (put up after the Parkway closed to stop motor vehicles from using) takes you to Clinton Road and where the bridge over that road once was.
The following pictures show Motor Parkway posts that were on the western edge of the property right at the end of Raymond Court before reaching the Motor Parkway and the entry way shown above. The first picture shows intact posts in July, 2014, while the next two show the posts having been removed during renovation of the property in Sept., 2014 and finally where trees now exist. Unfortunately I was too late in securing the posts before they were removed (and lost)!
Posts Along the Way
