Park Avenue Viaduct

Park Avenue Viaduct
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New York State Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark No. 1127
A portion of the viaduct crosses 42nd Street at Grand Central Terminal.
Location	Park Avenue between East 40th and 46th Streets Manhattan, New York
Coordinates	40°45′07″N 73°58′40″W / 40.75194°N 73.97778°W / 40.75194; -73.97778
Built	1919 (western roadway and south leg) 1928 (eastern roadway)
Architect	Warren & Wetmore; Reed & Stem
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts
NRHP reference No.	83001726
NYSRHP No.	06101.006478
NYCL No.	1127
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	August 11, 1983[3]
Designated NYSRHP	July 6, 1983[1]
Designated NYCL	September 23, 1980[2]

The Park Avenue Viaduct, also known as the Pershing Square Viaduct, is a roadway in Manhattan, New York City. It carries vehicular traffic on Park Avenue from 40th to 46th Streets. The viaduct is composed of two sections: a steel viaduct with two roadways from 40th to 42nd Streets, as well as a pair of roadways between 42nd and 46th Streets. The section from 40th to 42nd Streets was designated a New York City landmark in 1980 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The street-level service roads of Park Avenue, which flank the viaduct between 40th and 42nd Streets, are called Pershing Square. The section of the viaduct between 42nd and 46th Streets travels around Grand Central Terminal and the MetLife Building, then through the Helmsley Building; all three buildings lie across the north–south axis of the avenue.

The viaduct was first proposed by New York Central Railroad president William J. Wilgus in 1900 as part of the construction of Grand Central Terminal. Construction on the viaduct's western leg began in 1917, after the terminal had opened, and was completed in 1919. The western leg initially carried two-way traffic, so the eastern leg was completed for northbound traffic in 1928, and the western leg was reconfigured to carry southbound traffic only. An information booth was established in 1939 beneath the viaduct, and the city renovated the viaduct in the early 1990s.