New York State Thruway

Route information
Maintained by the NYSTA
Length	496.00 mi (798.23 km)
Existed	1950s–present
Major junctions
Major intersections	NY 400 in West Seneca I-390 near Rochester I-81 in Syracuse I-88 near Schenectady I-87/I-90 near Albany I-84 in Newburgh NY 17 in Harriman Garden State Pkwy. in Ramapo Palisades Pkwy. in West Nyack

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 496.00 mile (798.23 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 (NYSTA).

Only three sections of the Thruway system are not part of the Interstate Highway System. One such section is the Garden State Parkway Connector, which branches from the Thruway mainline at exit 14A in Spring Valley to connect to the Garden State Parkway at the New Jersey state line near Montvale. Another section is located on the Thruway mainline within exit 24 in Albany, as the mainline is unnumbered for a brief distance between the point where Interstate 87 departs the roadway and Interstate 90 enters it. The third section, the longest such section on the Thruway, is a six-mile portion of the Berkshire Connector, which has no Interstate designation between exit 21A on the Mainline in Selkirk and exit B1 in Schodack, where the Berkshire Connector merges with I-90.

Of the 641.29 miles in the Thruway system, 632.31 miles (98.6%) carries at least one Interstate designation. Interstate 90, which comprises the bulk of the mainline and the Berkshire Connector, runs for 365.55 miles along the Thruway, including 17.70 miles as part of the Berkshire Connector and 347.85 miles on the mainline. Interstate 87 comprises the remaining 148.15 miles of the mainline, including an 18.86 mile long concurrency with Interstate 287 north of New York City. Interstate 84 covers another 71.46 miles, including the New York State Bridge Authority-maintained Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, while Interstate 287 spans 29.76 miles (including the 18.86 miles shared with I-87), Interstate 190 lasts for 21.24 miles and Interstate 95 covers 15.01 miles.

The New York State Thruway in Yonkers

Route description

The New York State Thruway system is a collection of seven individual components across the state of New York, with the 496 mile long mainline as the centerpiece. The system connects New York to four neighboring states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) as well as the Canadian province of Ontario.

All highways maintained by the NYSTA lack the green reference markers that exist on all New York State Department of Transportation-maintained roads, as would be expected. In their place, NYSTA-controlled roadways use small, square tenth-mile markers with a white background and blue numbering. These markers differ from those used by NYSDOT on limited-access highways as state-maintained expressways typically feature tenth-mile signage similar to that used in the remainder of the United States while state routes utilize the reference markers, which display mileage information on their third row.

Except on the mainline, mile markers on NYSTA-maintained roads bear the Thruway logo on the top and an identifier for that highway, such as an I-84 shield for Interstate 84 and the letters "CW" for the Cross-Westchester Expressway (Interstate 287). Mainline mile markers feature only the word "mile" and the current milepost of the Thruway in relation to New York City.

Mainline

Advance signage for exit 45 (I-490).

The Thruway begins as Interstate 90 at the Pennsylvania state line in Chautauqua County. It follows the shore of Lake Erie northeast and passes along the far western side of Cheektowaga, a large suburb of Buffalo directly east of the city.. U.S. Route 20 and New York State Route 5 (both which also start at the Pennsylvania border), parallel Interstate 90 as it travels up the western section of New York. Exit 61 is for Shortman Road (RR 950D) in Ripley, New York. Interstate 90 parallels the shoreline of Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes for several miles. Interstate 90 passes through Westfield and interchanges at Exit 60 with New York State Route 394. Route 90 passes SUNY Fredonia and interchanges with New York State Route 60 at Exit 59.

In Silver Creek, Routes 20 and 5 are now concurrent and still parallel Interstate 90. Interstate 90 enters Erie County, interchanging with several state and county roads. Exit 56 is for the New York State Route 179 (the Milestrip Expressway) in West Seneca. The Southern Expressway (US 219) merges into the Thruway at Exit 55. Interstate 90 enters Buffalo, where it interchanges with its first spur, Interstate 190 at Exit 53. Interstate 90 passes to the west of Walden Galleria after Exit 52W and enters Niagara County. Interstate 290 interchanges at Exit 50 in Niagara County. Interstate 90 turns to the east and heads towards Syracuse. Route 90 now parallels New York State Route 33 and Route 5 again as it re-enters Erie County.

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. Interstate 90 intersects with New York State Route 77 at Exits 48A/B in Genesee County. Interstate 90 enters Monroe County and interchanges with Interstate 490 at Exit 47. Interstate 90 continues eastward, edging closer to Rochester. Interstate 90 interchanges with an auxillary route, Interstate 390 in Henrietta. 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. In Harriman, the major closed ticket system comes to an end at the Woodbury toll barrier, located on the mainline within exit 16 (New York State Route 17), a trumpet interchange. Along with the mainline barrier in Harriman, a separate toll plaza exists on the exit 16 ramp midway between the Thruway and NY 17 exit 131 (New York State Route 32). To distinguish between exit 16 and the Woodbury toll barrier, Thruway tickets list the NY 17 interchange as exit 16 and the Woodbury toll plaza as exit 15, although the actual exit 15 is situated almost 15 miles to the south.

Northbound traffic on I-87 traveling through the Woodbury toll barrier is given a ticket stamped for exit 15 while travelers on southbound I-87 must surrender their ticket and pay the appropriate toll. Traffic heading south on I-87 and exiting at exit 16 must pay the appropriate toll for exit 16 at the Harriman toll plaza. Traffic heading north on I-87 and exiting at exit 16 must pay a fixed-rate toll at the Harriman plaza. Traffic entering the Thruway from NY 17 east must pay a fixed-rate toll at the Harriman barrier and, if traveling north, collect a discounted ticket stamped exit 16 at the Woodbury barrier. The ticket is identical to that given for exit 15 with the exception that the toll for exit 16 is subtracted from all of the prices.

The New York State Thruway (I-87) looking east from Nordkop Mountain in Suffern.

South of Harriman, the Thruway 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. The exit numbering system begins at the Bronx/Westchester County line with exit 1 and ends with exit 61 at the Pennsylvania/New York border.

File:Bridge w reflection2.jpg

Tappan Zee Bridge (I-87)

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 on the Thruway mainline; one between NY 17 and Buffalo (with an inclusive spur route) and another from Buffalo to Exit 61.

Berkshire Connector

The Berkshire Connector is a 24.28 mile long east-west spur connecting the Thruway mainline to the Massachusetts Turnpike. The connector is enclosed within the mainline's major closed system, so traveling between the mainline and the Connector via exit 21A does not involve crossing a toll barrier, and the connector's exits up to the end of the closed system past exit B2 are listed with the mainline exits on tickets for the major closed system.

The spur separates from the Thruway at exit 21A in Selkirk, south of Albany, and proceeds east over the Castleton Bridge, crossing the Hudson River, before navigating through the southernmost portion of Rensselaer County. In Schodack, the Connector meets Interstate 90 at exit B1. I-90 joins the Berkshire Connector, following the spur east into Columbia County.

Unlike the Rensselaer County segment, which runs east-west, the Berkshire Connector in Columbia County takes on a northwest-southeast alignment as the roadway heads toward Massachusetts. In East Chatham, I-90 and the Connector interchange with the northern terminus of the Taconic State Parkway at exit B2. Two miles to the southeast, the closed ticket system comes to an end at the Canaan toll barrier. The Thruway then interchanges with New York State Route 22 before crossing into Massachusetts and becoming the Mass Pike.

Cross-Westchester Expressway

Main article: Cross Westchester Expressway

In 1990, the State Legislature directed the Authority to purchase the Cross-Westchester Expresway (Interstate 287) from the State, as a toll-free component of the Thruway system for $20 million. The Cross-Westchester begins at I-87/Thruway exit 8 in Elmsford, where I-287 splits from the Thruway mainline, and travels to the southeast across Westchester County to Interstate 95, the New England Thruway, exit 21 in Rye.

Garden State Parkway Connector

The Garden State Parkway 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 as the parkway prohibits commercial traffic north of exit 105. Although the connector itself is toll free, the Garden State Parkway mainline in New Jersey is tolled.

A New York State Thruway toll ticket, obtained at exit 25A.

Interstate 84

Main article: Interstate 84 (New York)

Similar to I-287, in 1991, the Authority was directed to assume the cost of operating and maintaining a 70-mile segment of Interstate 84, an annual expense of approximately $14 million. Only one portion of I-84 in New York, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge connecting Newburgh and Beacon, carries a toll. However, the bridge is operated and maintained by the New York State Bridge Authority, which collects all revenue from tolls on the structure.

As of 2007, there is no direct connection between the Thruway mainline and Interstate 84. Instead, exits from both expressways (I-87/Thruway exit 17 and I-84 exit 7) use New York State Route 300. The lone interruption along the shared portion of NY 300 is a single traffic light at the intersection of NY 300 and Stewart Avenue, a local street connecting NY 300 to New York State Route 17K. 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.

At its October, 2006 meeting, the Authority Board approved an action related to the elimination of the toll barriers at Black Rock and City Line in Buffalo. After accounting for the cost of toll collection, these barriers were expected to generate approximate $14.1 million. To allow for cessation of toll collections at these locations, the Authority accepted $14.1 million from the State Senate to replace the expected toll revenue for one year. The Board action also authorized providing one-year notice of the return of operational responsibilities of Interstate 84 to the NYSDOT as provided for in the Authority's agreement with the same. The return was the only option available to the Board that did not require legislation and was revenue neutral. The Grand Island Bridge tolls on I-190 remain intact.

New England Thruway

Main article: New England Thruway

The New England Thruway (NET) is a 15.01 mile long segment of Interstate 95 under the operation and maintenance of the Thruway Authority. The Thruway begins at the end of the Bruckner Expressway at Pelham Parkway (exit 8) and continues along I-95 to the Connecticut state line, where I-95 becomes the Connecticut Turnpike.

Between the The Bronx and New Rochelle, the Thruway is toll-free. At New Rochelle, a $1.25 toll is collected by way of a northbound-only toll barrier, the only such structure on the NET. No toll exists on the entirety of I-95 southbound.

Niagara Thruway

Main article: Interstate 190 (New York)

The first 21.24 miles of Interstate 190 from I-90 in Buffalo to New York State Route 384 in Niagara Falls is known as the Niagara Thruway and is maintained by the Thruway Authority. North of NY 384, the expressway is named the Niagara Expressway and is maintained by the NYSDOT.

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

The ticket system originally began at the Spring Valley toll barrier but was later moved to exit 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. The Spring Valley toll barrier remains today as a westbound-only commercial traffic toll.

Example of all-metric signage near Syracuse during the late 1990s.

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 the late 1970s, the NYSTA experimented with all-metric signage in the Syracuse area. This experiment included all metric signing for Exits 35 and 36 and a couple of "Speed Limit 88 km/h" signs. Local folklore suggests this stretch of the Thruway was chosen for the experiment because of strong political opposition in the area to the metric conversion plans.

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. Both major candidates in the 2006 gubernatorial election, Democrat and eventual victor Eliot Spitzer and Republican John Faso, vowed to eliminate the tolls if elected. Tolls remain on the 496 mile Thruway mainline, as well as on the North and South Grand Island Bridges connecting I-190 with the island.

On March 1, 2007, the Thruway Authority announced that wireless internet access (Wi-Fi) would be available at all service areas along the Thruway. Signage for the 27 service areas was updated to reflect this new feature.

Exit list

Mainline

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Westchester	Yonkers	0.00	South end of Thruway
		0.48	1	Hall Place, McLean Avenue
		1.42	2	Yonkers Avenue - Yonkers Raceway	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		1.77	3	Mile Square Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		2.18	4	Cross County ParkwayModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		2.70	5	NY 100 (Central Park Avenue) – White Plains	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		4.00	6	Tuckahoe Road - Bronxville, Yonkers	Signed as exits 6E (east) and 6W (west) southbound
		5.14	6A	Stew Leonard Drive
		5.47	Yonkers toll barrier
	Dobbs Ferry	7.84	7	NY 9A – Ardsley	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Greenburgh	10.33	7A	Saw Mill River Parkway north to Taconic State Parkway	Northbound exit only
		10.33	7A	Saw Mill River Parkway south	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		11.31	8A	NY 119 / Saw Mill River Parkway north – Elmsford	Northbound exit is part of exit 8
			8	I-287 east (Cross Westchester Expressway) – White Plains, Rye
		South end of I-287 overlap
	Tarrytown	12.85	9	US 9 – Tarrytown
		13.07	Tappan Zee Bridge toll barrier (southbound only)
			Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River
Rockland	South Nyack
		16.75	10	US 9W – Nyack, South Nyack	No southbound exit
	Nyack	17.42	11	US 9W (NY 59) – Nyack, South Nyack
	Clarkstown	18.76	12	NY 303 – West NyackModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		20.94	13	Palisades Parkway – Bear Mountain, New Jersey	Signed as exits 13N (north) and 13S (south)
		22.80	14	NY 59 – Spring Valley, Nanuet
	Ramapo	23.53	14A	Garden State Parkway - New Jersey
		24.31	Spring Valley toll barrier (northbound commercial vehicles only)
		27.62	14B	Airmont Road (CR 89) – Airmont, Montebello
		North end of I-287 overlap
		30.17	15	I-287 south / Route 17 south - New Jersey	South end of NY 17 overlap
		31.35	15A	NY 17 north / NY 59 – Sloatsburg, Suffern	North end of NY 17 overlap
Orange	Woodbury	45.03	Woodbury toll barrier
		45.20	16	US 6 / NY 17 – Harriman
	Newburgh	60.10	17	NY 17K / NY 300 to I-84 – Newburgh, Middletown, Stewart Airport
Ulster	New Paltz	76.01	18	NY 299 – New Paltz, Poughkeepsie
	Kingston	91.37	19	NY 28 (I-587) – Kingston, Rhinecliff Bridge
	Saugerties	101.25	20	NY 32 – Saugerties, Woodstock
Greene	Catskill	113.89	21	NY 23 – Cairo, Catskill
	New Baltimore	124.53	21B	US 9W to NY 81 – Coxsackie
Albany	Coeymans	133.60	21A	To I-90 east (Mass Turnpike) - Boston
	Bethlehem	134.93	22	NY 144 to NY 396 – Selkirk
	Albany	141.92	23	I-787 / US 9W – Albany, Troy, Rensselaer
		North end of I-87 overlap
		148.15	24	I-87 north / I-90 east – Albany, Montreal
		East end of I-90 overlap
	Guilderland	153.83	25	I-890 / NY 7 / NY 146 – Schenectady
Schenectady	Rotterdam	158.82	25A	I-88 / NY 7 – Schenectady, Binghamton
		162.22	26	I-890 / NY 5 / NY 5S – Schenectady, Scotia
Montgomery	Amsterdam	173.59	27	NY 30 – Amsterdam
	Glen	182.17	28	NY 30A – Fultonville, Fonda
	Canajoharie	194.10	29	NY 10 – Canajoharie, Sharon Springs
Herkimer	Danube	210.62	29A	NY 169 – Little Falls, Dolgeville
	Herkimer	219.70	30	NY 28 – Herkimer, Mohawk
Oneida	Utica	232.85	31	I-790 / NY 8 / NY 12 – Utica
	Westmoreland	243.37	32	NY 233 – Westmoreland, Rome
	Verona	252.71	33	NY 365 – Verona, Oneida, Rome
Madison	Lenox	261.5	34	NY 13 – Canastota, Chittenango, Oneida
Onondaga	Dewitt	276.58	34A	I-481 – Syracuse, Oswego, Chittenango
	East Syracuse	278.93	35	NY 298 – Syracuse, East Syracuse
	Mattydale	282.93	36	I-81 – Watertown, Binghamton
	Salina	283.79	37	Electronics Parkway - Liverpool, Syracuse
		285.95	38	CR 57 – Liverpool, Syracuse
	Van Buren, Geddes	289.53	39	I-690 / NY 690 – Syracuse, Fulton
Cayuga	Brutus	304.19	40	NY 34 – Weedsport, Auburn
Seneca	Tyre	320.41	41	NY 414 – Waterloo, Clyde
Ontario	Phelps	327.10	42	NY 14 – Geneva, Lyons
	Manchester	340.15	43	NY 21 – Manchester, Palmyra
	Farmington	347.13	44	NY 332 – Canandaigua (city), Victor
	Victor	350.99	45	I-490 – Rochester, Victor
Monroe	Henrietta	362.44	46	I-390 – Rochester, Corning
Genesee	Bergen	378.56	47	I-490 / NY 19 – LeRoy, Rochester
	Batavia	390.13	48	NY 98 – Batavia
	Pembroke	401.72	48A	NY 77 – Pembroke, Medina
Erie	Cheektowaga	417.27	49	NY 78 – Depew, Lockport
	Williamsville	419.69	Williamsville toll barrier
		420.34	50	I-290 – Niagara Falls
	Cheektowaga	420.70	50A	Cleveland Drive	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		421.57	51	NY 33 – Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Buffalo	Signed as exits 51W (west) and 51E (east)
		423.19	52	Walden Avenue (NY 952Q) - Buffalo, Cheektowaga	Signed as exits 52W (west) and 52E (east)
		424.92	52A	William Street
		426.17	53	I-190 – Downtown Buffalo, Canada, Niagara Falls
	West Seneca	427.94	54	NY 400 / NY 16 – West Seneca, East Aurora
		429.47	55	US 219 – Orchard Park, Springville, Lackawanna, West SenecaModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		430.51	Lackawanna toll barrier
	Lackawanna	432.45	56	NY 179 (Mile Strip Road) – Blasdell, Orchard Park
	Hamburg	436.22	57	NY 75 – Hamburg, East Aurora
	Evans	444.87	57A	Eden, Angola
Chautauqua	Hanover	455.54	58	US 20 / NY 5 – Silver Creek, Irving
	Dunkirk	467.74	59	NY 60 – Dunkirk, Fredonia
	Westfield	485.00	60	NY 394 – Westfield, Mayville
	Ripley	494.51	Ripley toll barrier
		494.92	61	Shortman Road (NY 950D) - Ripley
		496.00	West end of Thruway

Berkshire Connector

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Albany	Coeymans	0.00		I-87 to I-90 – New York City, Albany, Buffalo	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			Castleton Bridge over the Hudson River
Rensselaer	Schodack
		6.58	B1	I-90 west / US 9 – Albany, Hudson	West end of I-90 overlap
Columbia	Chatham	15.09	B2	Taconic State Parkway / NY 295
	Canaan	17.83	Canaan toll barrier
		23.27	B3	NY 22 – Austerlitz, New Lebanon
		24.28	East end of the Thruway

Cross-Westchester Expressway

See Cross Westchester Expressway.

Garden State Parkway Connector

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Rockland	Spring Valley	0.00		I-87/I-287 - Albany, New York City
		2.09		CR 41, Schoolhouse Road - Chestnut Ridge	Southbound: exit only. Northbound: entrance only.
		2.40	New Jersey state line. GSP Connector continues south as the Garden State Parkway.

Interstate 84

See Interstate 84.

New England Thruway

See New England Thruway.

Niagara Thruway

See Interstate 190.

External links

• NYC Roads: New York State Thruway
• New York State Thruway Authority
• Thruway Chronology 1942-2000
• The Thruway's entry in BBC h2g2
• Official Interchange Listing