The overlap with NY 25 was extended twice over the next decade. In the late 1930s, NY 25 was realigned to follow Queens Boulevard (NY 24) from Skillman Avenue to Horace Harding Boulevard. It was altered again in the early 1940s to use the section of Queens Boulevard between Horace Harding Boulevard and Union Turnpike. The concurrency was reduced slightly in the mid-1940s, however, as NY 24 was rerouted to follow the Crosstown Connecting Highway (now the right-of-way of I-278) and Midtown Highway (I-495) to the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. It then continued through the tunnel to end at NY 1A in Manhattan. The Crosstown Connection Highway and the Midtown Highway were upgraded into the first portions of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) and the Queens Midtown Expressway, respectively, in the early 1950s. At the time, the Queens Midtown Expressway ended at 61st Street.