section_path: Transportation/Streets and highways
section_name: Streets and highways
paragraph_text: Streets and highways
  
  Streets are also a defining feature of the city. The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 greatly influenced its physical development. New York City has an extensive web of freeways and parkways, which link the city's boroughs to each other and to North Jersey, Westchester County, Long Island, and southwestern Connecticut through bridges and tunnels. Because these highways serve millions of outer borough and suburban residents who commute into Manhattan, it is common for motorists to be stranded for hours in traffic congestion that are a daily occurrence, particularly during rush hour. Congestion pricing in New York City was approved in March 2024 and is expected to enter into force in mid-June if lawsuits will not overturn it.
  
  Unlike the rest of the United States, New York State prohibits right or left turns on red lights at traffic signals in cities with a population greater than one million, to reduce traffic collisions and increase pedestrian safety. In New York City, therefore, all turns on red lights are illegal unless a sign permitting such maneuvers is present.