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New York State Thruway

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Image:NYS Thruway Sign.gif
Image:I-87.svg Image:I-90.svg
Image:I-190.svg Image:I-287.svg Image:NY-17.svg
New York State Thruway
Length: 496.00 mi (798.2 km)
Berkshire Extension 24.28 miles
Niagara Thruway 21.24 miles
Formed: 1950s
Northwest end: Image:I-90.svg I-90 at the Pennsylvania border
Major
junctions: 		Image:NY-400.svg NY 400 in West Seneca
Image:I-190.svg I-190 in Buffalo
Image:I-290.svg I-290 in Buffalo
Image:I-490.svg I-490 near Rochester
Image:I-390.svg I-390 near Rochester
Image:I-690.svg I-690 near Syracuse
Image:I-81.svg I-81 near Syracuse
Image:I-790.svg Image:NY-5.svg Image:NY-8.svg Image:NY-12.svg I-790/ NY 5/ NY 8/ NY 12 near Utica
Image:I-88.svg I-88 near Schenectady
Image:I-890.svg I-890 in Schenectady
Image:I-87.svg Image:I-90.svg I-87/ I-90 near Albany
Image:I-787.svg I-787 in Albany
Image:I-84.svg I-84 in Newburgh
Image:NY-17.svg NY 17 in Harriman
Image:I-287.svg I-287 in Suffern
Image:Garden State Parkway shield.png G.S. Pkwy in Ramapo
Image:I-287.svg I-287 in Tarrytown
Southeast end: Image:I-87.svg I-87 in New York City
New York State Routes
New York Thruway Trailblazer
New York Thruway Trailblazer

The New York State Thruway (officially the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway) is a limited-access toll highway in the U.S. state of New York. Built in the 1950s by the State of New York in order to connect the major cities of New York, it is the longest toll road in the United States, with the 496-mile (793 km) mainline extending from the Pennsylvania/New York State border in the west to the Bronx in the east. In 1958 it was incorporated into the Interstate Highway System as portions of Interstate 87, Interstate 287, Interstate 90, Interstate 84, and Interstate 190. It is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority.

Contents

[edit] Description

From west to east, the Thruway begins as Interstate 90 along Lake Erie on the Pennsylvania border in Chautauqua County. It follows the lake shore northeast and passes along the eastern side of Buffalo. Across upstate New York, it roughly parallels the route of cross-state railroad tracks, which in turn follow the Erie Canal, passing north of Batavia, south of Rochester, north of Syracuse, and north of Utica before following the valley of the Mohawk River to Albany. South of Albany, it continues as the southern portion of Interstate 87, roughly paralleling the Hudson River to the river's west, passing near Kingston, New Paltz, and Newburgh. South of Harriman, it follows the valley of the Ramapo River until its junction near the New Jersey border with Interstate 287, which it joins, then cuts east across Rockland County. It connects with the New York segment of the Garden State Parkway then crosses the Hudson on the Tappan Zee Bridge. On the east side of the Hudson it continues south through Westchester County to the Bronx. Exit numbers start at Exit 1 at the Bronx/Westchester County line and end at Exit 61 at the Pennsylvania/New York border. The highway employs both open-system and closed-system tolling. From the Bronx/Westchester County line to the New York State Route 17 exit, an open system (coin-drop) is used. From there northward, a closed system is employed where drivers must obtain tickets which show their point of entry and the cost of traveling from there to their desired point of exit. Upon exiting the Thruway, the ticket must be surrendered and the appropriate toll must be paid. Two separate closed systems are used — one between NY 17 and Buffalo (with an inclusive spur route) and another from Buffalo to Exit 61. New York State Thruway (Interstate 87) looking east from Nordkop Mountain, Suffern, New York Image:New York Thruway Toll Ticket.jpg

[edit] History

A toll superhighway connecting the major cities of New York State which would become part of a larger nationwide highway network was first proposed in 1949. The following year, the New York State Legislature passed the Thruway Authority Act creating the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), an independent public corporation, which would build and manage the turnpike. The project was to be financed through toll revenue bonds and self-liquidating by receipt of tolls, rents, concessions, and other income. The act also stipulated NYSTA adopt a hybrid system of tolls, with barrier tolls collected in urban areas, and long-distance tickets issued in rural areas.

The thruway opened in sections in the mid 1950s. The first section, between Lowell and Rochester, opened on June 24, 1954. The last section of 426 mi (681 km) mainline between Buffalo and the Bronx was completed on August 31, 1956. The total cost was 600 million dollars, financed by the sale of 972 million dollars of bonds. At the time, it was the longest toll road in the world.

In 1957, the mainline was extended 70 mi (112 km) west from Buffalo along Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania border. From 1957 to 1960, several spurs of the road were built to connect the road to turnpikes in the neighboring states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. In 1958, sections of the Thruway were given the current designations as part of the Interstate Highway System.

In 1964, the New York State Legislature officially renamed the Thruway in honor of former governor Thomas E. Dewey. The official designation is, however, rarely used in reference to the road.

In August 1993, the NYSTA became the first agency to implement the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system. By December 1996 it was implemented at all toll barriers on the Thruway.

In 1997, the construction bond used to build the Thruway had been paid off, and all tolls along the Thruway were supposed to be abolished. However, the New York State Legislature voted to maintain the tolls. This action has engendered regional hostility within the state, particularly from the upstate counties which see the maintenance of the toll as a regional-based tax and that the tolls help maintain the economic disparity between the poor, rural upstate and the rich, urban downstate.

In 2006, the Thruway Authority voted to end tolls on a six mile section of the I-190 portion of the Thruway, at the urging of many Buffalo area politicians, however tolls still remain on 497 miles of the Thruway, including the bridges on I-190 connecting it with Grand Island. Both Republican gubernatorial candidate John Faso and his Democrat opponent Eliot Spitzer have vowed to eliminate the tolls if elected.

[edit] Interchanges and toll barriers

[edit] Mainline

Interchanges from beginning (southeast) to end (northwest)

County Location Mile # Road Destination Notes
End Thruway.
Image:I-87.svg Interstate 87 continues south into New York City as Major Deegan Expressway.
Westchester Yonkers 0.48 1 Hall Place, McLean Avenue Yonkers Hall Place, northbound; McLean Avenue, southbound.
1.42 2 Yonkers Avenue Yonkers Northbound Exit/ Southbound Entrance.
1.77 3 Mile Square Road Yonkers Northbound Exit/ Southbound Entrance.
2.18 4 Image:Cross County Pkwy Shield.svg Cross County Parkway Tibbetts Brook Park, Mount Vernon No trucks.
2.70 5 Image:NY-100.svg NY 100 - Central Park Avenue White Plains Northbound Exit & Entrance.
4 6 Tuckahoe Road Yonkers, Bronxville
5.14 6A Corporate Drive Ridge Hill Northbound Exit/ Southbound Entrance.
5.47 Yonkers Toll Barrier
Dobbs Ferry 7.84 7 Image:NY-9A.svg NY 9A Ardsley Northbound Exit / Southbound Entrance.
Greenburgh 10.33 7A Image:Saw Mill Pkwy Shield.svg Saw Mill River Parkway Northbound Yonkers, Katonah No trucks. Southbound Exit/ Northbound Exit & Entry.
11.31 8A Image:NY-119.svg NY-119 Saw Mill River Parkway Southbound Exit
11.31 8 Image:I-287.svg I-287 East - Cross-Westchester Expressway Rye, Port Chester - To Image:I-95.svg I-95 (New England Thruway, Connecticut Turnpike), Image:I-684.svg I-684 I-287 West joins I-87 North.
Tarrytown 12.85 9 Image:US 9.svg US 9 Tarrytown Originally planned to include Interstate 487.
Rockland-Westchester county line 13.07 Tappan Zee Bridge Toll southbound.
Rockland South Nyack 16.75 10 Image:US 9W.svg US 9W Nyack, South Nyack Southbound Entry / Northbound Entry & Exit.
Nyack 17.42 11 Image:US 9W.svg US 9W
Image:NY-59.svg NY 59 		Nyack, West Nyack
Clarkstown 18.76 12 Image:NY-303.svg NY 303 Congers, West Nyack
20.94 13 Image:Palisades Interstate Pkwy.svg Palisades Interstate Parkway George Washington Bridge, Bear Mountain Bridge No trucks.
22.80 14 Image:NY-59.svg NY 59 Spring Valley, Nanuet
Ramapo 23.53 14A Image:Garden State Parkway shield.png To Garden State Parkway New Jersey No trucks across the state line.
24.31 Toll barrier - Trucks only.
~26 14B Airmont Road Suffern, Montebello
30.15 15 Image:I-287.svg I-287 South to Image:New Jersey 17.svg NJ 17 East New Jersey I-287 East joins I-87 South. NY/NJ 17 Joins I-87 North.
31.35 15A Image:NY-59.svg NY 59 East
Image:NY-17.svg NY 17 West 		Sloatsburg NY 17 joins I-87 South. NY 59 Western Terminus. Major rest areas in both directions near Sloatsburg/Ramapo, connected by a pedestrian bridge over the highway. Northbound Rest Area has a designated "prayer area" primarily used by observant Jews en route from NYC area to the Catskills.
Orange Woodbury 45.12 16 Image:NY-17.svg NY 17 (Future Image:I-86.svg I-86) Includes US 6(Long Mountain Parkway).
Harriman Toll Barrier--Begin major closed system (tickets/E-ZPass).
Newburgh 60.10 17 Image:NY-300.svg NY 300 to Image:I-84.svg I-84 Newburgh Direct I-84 interchange under construction.
New Paltz 76.01 18 Image:NY-299.svg NY 299 New Paltz
Ulster Ulster 91.37 19 Image:I-587.svg I-587 To Image:NY-28.svg NY 28, and Image:US 209.svg US 209 Kingston, Rhinecliff Bridge I-587 multiplexes with NY 28, however it is not signed on mainline guide signs.
Saugerties 101.25 20 Image:NY-32.svg NY 32 Saugerties
Greene Catskill 113.89 21 Image:NY-23.svg NY 23 Catskill, Cairo
New Baltimore 124.53 21B Image:NY-81.svg NY 81 & Image:US 9W.svg US 9W Coxsackie, Ravena
Albany Coeymans 133.60 21A Berkshire Extension to Image:I-90.svg I-90 East To 15px Mass. Tpke, Boston Remain on closed system if you exit.
Bethlehem 134.93 22 Image:NY-396.svgImage:NY-144.svg NY 396, NY 144 Selkirk
Albany 141.92 23 Image:I-787.svg I-787 North
Riverfront Route 		To Image:US 9W.svg US 9W Was also planned to include a connection between I-787 and the Adirondack Northway at US 20, running parallel to the Thruway mainline.
148.15 24 Image:I-90.svg I-90 West - Thruway Mainline
Image:I-87.svg I-87 North - Adirondack Northway 		Image:I-87.svg - Montreal Exit 24 coming from the southeast
Image:I-90.svg I-90 East - To Berkshire Extension
Image:I-87.svg I-87 South - Thruway Mainline 		Exit 24 coming from the northwest
Image:I-87.svg Interstate 87 North leaves and Image:I-90.svg Interstate 90 West joins Thruway mainline.
Guilderland 153.83 25 Image:I-890.svg I-890 To Image:NY-7.svg NY 7 and Image:NY-146.svg NY 146 Schenectady
Schenectady Rotterdam 158.82 25A Image:I-88.svg I-88 Schenectady, Binghamton Originally, Interstate 88 was to continue through Albany to Portsmouth, New Hampshire
162.22 26 Image:I-890.svg I-890 To Image:NY-5S.svg NY 5S Schenectady
Montgomery Amsterdam 173.59 27 Image:NY-30.svg NY 30 Amsterdam
Glen 182.17 28 Image:NY-30A.svg NY 30A Fultonville, Fonda
Canajoharie 194.1 29 Image:NY-10.svg NY 10 Canajoharie, Sharon Springs
Herkimer Danube 210.62 29A Image:NY-169.svg NY 169 Little Falls, Dolgeville
Herkimer 219.70 30 Image:NY-28.svg NY 28 Herkimer, Mohawk
Oneida Utica 232.85 31 Image:I-790.svg I-790 To Image:NY-8.svg NY 8 and Image:NY-12.svg NY 12 Utica
Westmoreland 243.37 32 Image:NY-233.svg NY 233 Westmoreland, Rome
Verona 252.71 33 Image:NY-365.svg NY 365 Verona, Rome
Madison Lenox 261.5 34 Image:NY-13.svg NY 13 Canastota
Onondaga Dewitt 276.58 34A Image:I-481.svg I-481; Image:NY-481.svg NY 481 Syracuse, Oswego
East Syracuse 278.93 35 Image:NY-298.svg NY 298 Syracuse, East Syracuse
Mattydale 282.93 36 Image:I-81.svg I-81 Watertown, Binghamton
Salina 283.79 37 Electronics Parkway Syracuse, Liverpool
285.95 38 Onondaga CR 57 Syracuse, Liverpool
Van Buren-Geddes town line 289.53 39 Image:I-690.svg I-690; Image:NY-690.svg NY 690 Syracuse, Fulton
Cayuga Brutus 304.19 40 Image:NY-34.svg NY 34 Auburn, Hannibal
Seneca Tyre 320.41 41 Image:NY-414.svg NY 414 Waterloo, Clyde
Ontario Phelps 327.1 42 Image:NY-14.svg NY 14 Geneva, Lyons
Manchester 340.15 43 Image:NY-21.svg NY 21 Manchester, Palmyra
Farmington 347.13 44 Image:NY-332.svg NY 332 Canandaigua, Victor
Victor 350.99 45 Image:I-490.svg I-490 - Eastern Expressway Rochester, Victor
Monroe Henrietta 362.44 46 Image:I-390.svg I-390 Rochester, Corning
Genesee Bergen 378.56 47 Image:I-490.svg I-490 - Western Expressway; Image:NY-19.svg NY 19 Rochester, Le Roy
Batavia 390.13 48 Image:NY-98.svg NY 98 Batavia, Albion
Pembroke 401.72 48A Image:NY-77.svg NY 77 Pembroke, Medina
Erie Cheektowaga 417.27 49 Image:NY-78.svg NY 78 Depew, Lockport
Williamsville 419.69 Williamsville Toll Barrier. End major closed system (tickets/E-ZPass).
419.60 50 Image:I-290.svg I-290 - Youngmann Expressway Buffalo bypass. To Image:I-190.svg I-190.
Cheektowaga 420.7 50A Cleveland Drive Eastbound Exit, Westbound Entrance
421.57 51 Image:NY-33.svg NY 33 - Kensington Expressway Downtown Buffalo, Rochester To Buffalo Niagara International Airport
423.19 52 Walden Avenue New York State Reference Route 952Q
424.92 52A William Street
426.17 53 Image:I-190.svg I-190 - Niagara Thruway Downtown Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada I-190 is the only three digit interstate to reach an international border.
West Seneca 427.94 54 Image:NY-400.svg NY 400; Aurora Expressway TO Image:NY-16.svg NY 16 West Seneca, East Aurora
429.47 55 Image:US 219.svg US 219 - Springville Expressway West Seneca, Orchard Park, Ridge Road
430.51 Begin minor closed system (tickets/E-ZPass).
Lackawanna 432.45 56 Image:NY-179.svg NY 179 Blasdell, Hamburg, Mile Strip Road
Hamburg 436.22 57 Image:NY-75.svg NY 75 Hamburg
Evans 444.87 57A Eden-Evans Center Road Eden, Angola TO Image:US 20.svg US 20 and Image:NY-5.svg NY 5(Angola). TO Image:US 62.svg US 62(Eden).
Chautauqua Hanover 455.54 58 Image:NY-438.svg NY 438 Irving, Gowanda Cattaraugus Indian Reservation
Dunkirk 467.74 59 Image:NY-60.svg NY 60 Dunkirk, Fredonia
Westfield 485 60 Image:NY-394.svg NY 394 Westfield, Mayville Former NY 17
Ripley 494.51 End minor closed system (tickets/E-ZPass).
494.92 61 Shortman Road Ripley
496.00 End Thruway.
Image:I-90.svg Interstate 90 continues west into Pennsylvania.

[edit] Cross-Westchester Expressway

Further information: Interstate 287 (New York)
  • 00.00 Begins at the mainline interchange 8
  • 06.45 Exit 9A Interstate 684
  • 10.65 Interchange 12 New England Thruway (Interchange 21) Interstate 95 (exit 12 is for southbound; main flow is northbound)

[edit] New England Thruway

Further information: Interstate 95 (New York)

Major interchanges:

[edit] Garden State Parkway Connector

The connector is a 2.40 mile-long road that connects the Thruway with the Garden State Parkway at the New Jersey state line via interchange 14A. It is the only part of the Thruway system that prohibits commercial vehicles (the parkway prohibits commercial traffic north of Exit 105). The connector is toll free, but motorists continuing into New Jersey will encounter tolls along the Garden State Parkway mainline.

[edit] Interstate 84

Further information: Interstate 84 (New York)

Note that the one toll in New York state, which is for the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, is run by the New York State Bridge Authority (not a Thruway toll), which is also responsible for the bridge. The rest of I-84 in New York is a toll-free component of the Thruway, financed by the tolls collected on I-190 in downtown Buffalo since the early 1990s. The New York State Highway Department regained control of I-84 on October 30, 2006 and the I-190 tolls in Buffalo were removed, although the Grand Island tolls still remain.

There is no direct connection between the mainline (Interchange 17) and I-84 (Interchange 7). Both interchanges are with NY-300. Motorists travelling between the two will encounter one intersection on NY-300 controlled by a traffic light. Improvements have brought both interchanges individually up to freeway standards, though at a loss to local traffic. The Thruway Authority has a project in the works to build a direct interchange between I-84 and I-87, without compromising local access to either.

[edit] Berkshire Connector

Exits are numbered from west to east, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines.

County Location Mile<ref name="mileage">Interchange Listing with Mileposts</ref> # Destinations Notes
Albany Coeymans 0.00 Image:I-87.svg Interstate 87 (Thruway Mainline) south - New York City Westbound exit and eastbound entrance. Remain on closed system.
0.00 Image:I-87.svg Interstate 87 (Thruway Mainline) north to Interstate 90 - Albany; Buffalo
Castleton Bridge (Hudson River)
Rensselaer Schodack 6.58 B1 Image:I-90.svgImage:US 9.svg Interstate 90 west; U.S. Route 9 - Albany; Hudson I-90 joins eastbound and leaves westbound
Columbia Chatham 15.09 B2 Image:Taconic State Pkwy Shield.svgImage:NY-295.svg Taconic State Parkway; New York State Route 295
Canaan 17.83 Canaan barrier toll. End major closed system (tickets/E-ZPass).
23.27 B3 Image:NY-22.svg New York State Route 22 - Austerlitz; New Lebanon
24.28 End Thruway.
Image:I-90.svg Interstate 90 continues east as the Massachusetts Turnpike

[edit] Niagara Thruway

Further information: Interstate 190 (New York)

[edit] Notes

  • Aside from the Garden State Parkway Connector, there are two sections of the Thruway that lack an Interstate designation. One is a very short portion, entirely within interchange 24, between the point where I-87 exits and the point where I-90 merges. The other is approximately six miles of the Berkshire Connector between exit 21A on the Mainline and exit B1, where the Berkshire Connector becomes I-90. This latter section includes the Castleton Bridge.
  • The ticket system once began at the Spring Valley barrier (which is currently a westbound-only commercial traffic toll); however, it was moved to Interchange 16 to make it possible to build simple toll-free interchanges in the stretch between the two. The toll plaza at Suffern was dismantled along with this change.
  • Interchange 16 is a very strange interchange. It contains two distinct entities within the ticketed toll system, exit 16 and the Woodbury toll barrier (#15), limit of the ticket-controlled system. It also possesses a stand-alone toll (Harriman). From above, it looks like any other trumpet-style ticketed interchange, but there is a toll plaza across the mainline.
    • Motorists remaining on the mainline pickup a #15 ticket or pay a #15 toll, at the toll barrier across the mainline.
    • South-/East-bound travellers exiting at 16 pay an ordinary #16 toll, at the trumpet plaza.
    • North-/West-bound travellers exiting at 16 pay the fixed-rate "Harriman" toll at the trumpet plaza.
    • Traffic entering the Thruway at interchange 16 all pays the "Harriman" fixed-rate toll at the trumpet plaza. Traffic heading north/west must also stop at the mainline plaza to receive a discounted #16 ticket (with the "Harriman" toll subtracted from all of the prices).
  • All highways maintained by the Thruway Authority lack little green New York State reference markers that exist on all NYSDOT roads. The tenth-mile markers are also different from most in the rest of the state and the country (most state roads have just the reference markers, which include milage information, but many NYSDOT freeways have markers similar to the rest of the country). Rather than being green and white, they are often just a white background with blue numbers. The mile markers within the Thruway Authority bear the Thruway logo on the top and some sort of identifier for that highway (except for the mainline; some of them are: an I-84 shield for I-84 and CW for the Cross Westchester Expressway (I-287)).
  • The NYS Thruway experimented with all-metric signage during the late 1990s near Syracuse.
Image:I90metric.gif
Example of all-metric signage near Syracuse during the late 1990s.

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/New_York_State_Thruway"
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