U.S. Route 4 in New York

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This article is about the section of U.S. Route 4 in New York. For the entire length of the highway, see U.S. Route 4.
U.S. Route 4 shield
U.S. Route 4
Maintained by NYSDOT

Map of New York with US 4 highlighted in red
Length: 79.75 mi[1] (128.35 km)
Formed: 1926[2] (extended 1930[3])
South end: US 9 / US 20 in East Greenbush
Major
junctions:		 I-90 near Albany
NY 32 from Waterford to Stillwater
NY 22 from Fort Ann to Whitehall
North end: US 4 at Fair Haven, VT
Counties: Rensselaer, Saratoga, Washington
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 3A NY 5 >
Interstate – U.S. – N.Y. (former) – Reference
United States Numbered Highways
List – Bannered – Divided – Replaced

U.S. Route 4 (US 4) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from East Greenbush, New York, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In the U.S. state of New York, US 4 extends 79.75 miles (128.35 km) from an intersection with US 9 and US 20 in East Greenbush to the Vermont state line northeast of Whitehall. While the remainder of US 4 east of New York is an east–west route, US 4 in New York is signed north–south due to the alignment the route takes through the state. The portion of the route between Waterford and Whitehall is part of the Lakes to Locks Passage, an All-American Road.

US 4 was assigned in 1926 and initially extended from Glens Falls to the Vermont border near Whitehall by way of Hudson Falls. The route utilized part of NY 30, a highway assigned in 1924. US 4 was extended southward to its present terminus in East Greenbush as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.

Contents

[edit] Route description

The portion of US 4 between the northern city line of Mechanicville and the eastern village line of Whitehall is designated as the Turning Point Trail.[4]

[edit] East Greenbush to Schuylerville

US 4 begins at the concurrency of US 9 and US 20 in East Greenbush. Heading northward, it has an interchange with I-90, continuing northward into Troy. In Troy, it passes by Hudson Valley Community College as well as the headquarters of the 42nd Infantry Division. US 4 then heads downhill, passing the historic South End Tavern as Burden Avenue, named for the historic Burden Iron Works. Later, US 4 assumes Fourth Street, which splits into parallel one-way streets (Third Street handles southbound traffic from downtown). At Congress Street, in the middle of the Central Troy Historic District with St. Paul's Episcopal Church on the corner, it intersects NY 2. Once through downtown, the streets meet and pass by the Green Island Bridge, later passing under the Collar City Bridge and into Lansingburgh.[5]

US 4 begins here at US 9 and US 20 in East Greenbush.

After Lansingburgh, US 4 turns left to cross the Hudson River on the Troy-Waterford Bridge, entering Waterford, joining with NY 32 to head north together west of the Hudson. After Mechanicville, US 4 and NY 32 split, and US 4 passes by the Battles of Saratoga and the Saratoga National Cemetery. NY 32 joins again to pass through Schuylerville.[5]

[edit] Schuylerville to Vermont line

Route 4 begins to run along the Champlain Canal after Schuylerville, passing through the hamlets of Northumberland and Starks Knob. At a crossing over the Hudson River, Routes 4 and the concurrent Route 32 split in different directions. Route 4, which is now on the other side of the Hudson, continues northward through Fort Miller, and crosses the River once more. The route then enters Fort Edward, where it becomes concurrent with NY 197.[5]

With the Hudson River to its west, Route 4 heads northward once again, leaving Route 197 behind. Not far after Fort Edward, the highway enters Hudson Falls, where it turns into a local road. There, it heads through downtown, intersecting with NY 196, and soon afterwards, NY 254. Route 4 makes a sudden curve to the northeast, heading through the rural regions for the rest of its length.[5]

There is one final intersection with Route 32, but they do not become concurrent and Route 4 heads to the northeast. The route passes through Kingsbury and soon after, becomes concurrent with NY 149. The two routes head into Fort Ann, where they split, with Route 149 heading westward. After passing Battle Hill, Route 22 merges in from Comstock. There are several hills before the intersection where the two roads split in Whitehall. Route 4 continues along its final stretch after Route 22, passing fields and such to the state line, where it continues into Vermont.[5]

[edit] History

[edit] Origins and assignment

The first set of state routes in New York were assigned in 1924. Two of the routes assigned at this time were NY 6, a north–south route extending from the New York City line to the Canadian border, and NY 30, another north–south route connecting NY 6 in Mechanicville to the Vermont state line west of Fair Haven.[6] NY 6 left Albany on modern NY 32 and followed it to Mechanicville, where NY 6 veered westward on what is now NY 67 and NY 30 picked up the current alignment of NY 32. NY 30 continued north on modern NY 32 to Glens Falls, at which point it went east to Hudson Falls via Warren and River Streets. It headed northward from there to Vermont on modern US 4. By 1926, NY 30 was rerouted north of Whitehall to continue north toward the Canadian border. The old alignment of NY 30 between Whitehall and Vermont was not assigned a new number.[7]

In the original plans for the U.S. Highway System, the north–south highway along the western bank of the Hudson River was designated as U.S. Route 9 while the highway on the eastern bank was assigned U.S. Route 109. The two routes were concurrent from Albany to Mechanicville, where US 9 went west to follow NY 6 while US 109 continued north on NY 30. The designations met again south of Glens Falls, where US 109 ended at US 9. Also in the original plans was US 4, which was assigned to all of NY 30's original alignment between Glens Falls and the Vermont state line.[7] In the final system alignment approved on November 11, 1926, the routing of US 9 was altered to follow its modern alignment between Albany and Glens Falls while US 109 was reconfigured to use modern US 4 between East Greenbush and Waterford,[2] which was unnumbered prior to that time.[7]

[edit] Southward extension and overlaps

When U.S. Highways were first posted in New York in 1927, US 9 was restored to its originally planned alignment between Albany and Glens Falls (via Waterford and Mechanicville) while the US 109 designation went unassigned. The portion of US 109's alignment south of Waterford became U.S. Route 9E instead. US 4 was assigned as planned in 1926, overlapping NY 30 between Glens Falls and Whitehall. The NY 6 designation was completely removed at this time.[8] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, US 9 was realigned to follow its modern routing between Albany and Round Lake. The portion of US 9's former routing between Waterford and Mechanicville as well as all of US 9E north of U.S. Route 20 became a southward extension of US 4, which left its original alignment in Hudson Falls and followed a previously unnumbered riverside highway south to Northumberland. In between Northumberland and Mechanicville, it utilized the former routing of NY 30, which was reassigned to another highway as part of the renumbering.[9][10]

Virtually all of US 4 south of Hudson Falls initially overlapped other routes, all of which were assigned as part of the renumbering. In between Hudson Falls and Northumberland, US 4 overlapped NY 32B, which began in Glens Falls and followed US 4's former routing east to Hudson Falls. From Northumberland to Schuylerville and from Bemis Heights to Waterford, US 4 was part of NY 32. The segment from Schuylerville to Bemis Heights was designated NY 32A. Lastly, the part of US 4 south of Northern Drive (then-NY 40) in Troy was concurrent to NY 40.[3] By 1932, NY 40 was rerouted through Troy to follow a more easterly alignment through the city. The realignment moved the northern end of the overlap southward to the junction of US 4 and Winter Street in North Greenbush.[11]

Most of the overlaps were eliminated as time went on. In the early 1940s, NY 32A was reassigned to another highway in the Catskill Mountains while NY 32B was truncated to end in Hudson Falls. The former routing of NY 32A became a realignment of NY 32.[12][13] In the mid-1950s, work began on a project to upgrade a pre-existing riverside highway between Bemis Heights and Schuylerville.[14][15] The project was completed by 1958, at which time the roadway became part of a realigned US 4.[16] The overlap with NY 40 was eliminated in the late 1950s when NY 40 was truncated to begin at the junction of US 4 and Winter Street.[16][17]

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Rensselaer East Greenbush 0.00 US 9 / US 20
1.51 NY 151
2.06 I-90 Exit 9 (I-90)
North Greenbush 4.00 NY 43 Hamlet of Defreestville
5.62 Winter Street Extension Former western terminus of NY 405
6.62 NY 136 Western terminus of NY 136
Troy 7.90 NY 378 Eastern terminus of NY 378
9.58 NY 2 west (Ferry Street)
9.66 NY 2 east (Congress Street)
10.43 NY 7 (Hoosick Street)
12.69 NY 470 (112th Street) Eastern terminus of NY 470
13.85 NY 142 (125th Street) Neighborhood of Lansingburgh; western terminus of NY 142
Saratoga Village of Waterford 14.33 NY 32 south Southern terminus of US 4 / NY 32 overlap
Halfmoon 21.61 NY 146 Eastern terminus of NY 146
Mechanicville 23.14 NY 67 west Southern terminus of US 4 / NY 67 overlap
23.24 NY 67 east Northern terminus of US 4 / NY 67 overlap
Town of Stillwater 28.45 NY 32 north Northern terminus of US 4 / NY 32 overlap
Schuylerville 37.90 NY 32 south Southern terminus of US 4 / NY 32 overlap
Burgoyne Avenue Former eastern terminus of NY 338
38.09 NY 29 east Southern terminus of US 4 / NY 29 overlap
38.38 NY 29 west Northern terminus of US 4 / NY 29 overlap
Northumberland 40.17 NY 32 north Northern terminus of US 4 / NY 32 overlap
Washington Village of Fort Edward 50.12 NY 197 east Southern terminus of US 4 / NY 197 overlap
50.60 NY 197 west Northern terminus of US 4 / NY 197 overlap
Hudson Falls 53.00 NY 196 Western terminus of NY 196
53.09 NY 254 Eastern terminus of NY 254
54.52 NY 32
Kingsbury 60.77 NY 149 east Southern terminus of US 4 / NY 149 overlap
Village of Fort Ann 62.63 NY 149 west Northern terminus of US 4 / NY 149 overlap
Town of Fort Ann 66.48 NY 22 south Southern terminus of US 4 / NY 22 overlap
Village of Whitehall 73.19 NY 22 north Northern terminus of US 4 / NY 22 overlap
Hampton 79.75 US 4 Continuation into Vermont

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. pp. 85–86. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_Traffic_Data_Report_2008.pdf. Retrieved December 8, 2009. 
  2. ^ a b United States Department of Agriculture. United States System of Highways [map]. (November 11, 1926)
  3. ^ a b Standard Oil Company of New York. Road Map of New York [map]. Cartography by General Drafting. (1930)
  4. ^ New York State Legislature. "New York State Highway Law § 342-DD". http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS. Retrieved December 27, 2009. 
  5. ^ a b c d e I Love New York. 1977-2007 I love New York state map [map]. (2007)
  6. ^ "New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers". New York Times: p. XX9. December 21, 1924. 
  7. ^ a b c Rand McNally and Company. Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas (eastern New York) [map]. (1926) Retrieved on December 27, 2009.
  8. ^ Automobile Blue Book. 1 (1927 ed.). Chicago: Automobile Blue Book, Inc. 1927.  This edition shows U.S. Routes as they were first officially signed in 1927.
  9. ^ Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1930/31 and 1931/32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930/31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the 1930 renumbering
  10. ^ Dickinson, Leon A. (January 12, 1930). "New Signs for State Highways". New York Times: p. 136. 
  11. ^ Texas Oil Company. Texaco Road Map – New York [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. (1932)
  12. ^ Gulf Oil Company. New York Info-Map [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. (1940)
  13. ^ Esso. New York with Pictorial Guide [map]. Cartography by General Drafting. (1942)
  14. ^ Esso. New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region [map], 1955–56 edition. Cartography by General Drafting. (1954)
  15. ^ Esso. New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region [map], 1957 edition. Cartography by General Drafting. (1956)
  16. ^ a b Esso. New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region [map], 1958 edition. Cartography by General Drafting. (1958)
  17. ^ Gulf. New York and New Jersey Tourgide Map [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. (1960)

[edit] External links


U.S. Route 4
Previous state:
Terminus		 New York Next state:
Vermont
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