It runs from the Jackie Robinson Parkway in Glendale, Queens to Marcus Avenue in North New Hyde Park, Nassau County, about 1 mile (1.6 km) outside the New York City border.

Starting from the intersection of Myrtle Avenue, 86th Street and the Jackie Robinson Parkway's east-bound exit 5 ramps in Glendale, Union Turnpike crosses Woodhaven Boulevard.

After the Grand Central, Union Turnpike goes back into the neighborhood of Bayside, the eastern section of the Flushing district, where it becomes the southern boundary of Alley Pond Park until it intersects with Winchester Boulevard.

It passes a shopping center in Lake Success, crosses New Hyde Park Road, and ends a block east at Marcus Avenue.

The Glendale section contains a wide mall with trees, and in Kew Gardens, the turnpike flanks the Jackie Robinson Parkway crossing over the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road, before dipping below Queens Boulevard.

[2][3] Among the landmarks found along the turnpike are Forest Park, Queens Borough Hall,[3] St. John's University,[2] and Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.

[13] Civic associations in Jamaica opposed the Union Turnpike proposal, and they convinced Queens Borough President George Harvey.

[14] Nevertheless, the section of Union Turnpike from Kew Gardens to the Nassau County line was converted from a narrow unpaved road to a paved multi-lane highway in the late 1930s, in advance of the 1939 New York World's Fair.

In 2024, the New York City Department of Design and Construction completed a reconstruction of Union Turnpike between Hollis Court Boulevard and 226th Street.

The project involved reconstructing the median and concrete bus stop slabs, as well as adding new trees, street lights, and pedestrian signals.