New York State Thruway

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Image:NYS Thruway Sign.gif Image:NewYorkStateThruway(I-87).jpg 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, and Interstate 190. It is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority.

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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 northern New York, it roughly parallels the route of 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 uses a coin-drop system for tolls between the Bronx/Westchester County line to the New York State Highway 17 exit. From there northward, 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 and the appropriate toll must be paid. Two separate "ticket systems" are used — one between NY 17 and Buffalo and another from Buffalo to Exit 61.

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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.

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Interchanges and toll barriers

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Mainline

Major interchanges from beginning (southeast) to end (northwest)

  • 000.00 Begins at the New York City line from the Major Deegan Expressway; designated as Interstate 87
  • 005.47 toll barrier (Yonkers)
  • 011.31 Exit 8 Interstate 287 - the Cross-Westchester Expressway; begin I-287 concurrency; to New England Thruway (I-95)
  • 013.07 Tappan Zee Bridge; toll barrier (eastbound only)
  • 023.53 Exit 14A Garden State Parkway (2.40 mile connector to New Jersey maintained by NYSTA)
  • 024.31 toll barrier (westbound commercial vehicles only)
  • 030.17 Exit 15 Interstate 287 (New Jersey; interchange is adjacent to state line); end I-287 concurrency
  • 045.12 Exit 16, NY-17, US-6, future I-86 (E); beginning of major ticket system toll barrier (for those entering&exiting the Thruway: if traveling within the ticket system, one gets a cheaper toll than those going through the barrier; if not, then one gets a fixed toll)
  • 060.10 Exit 17 Interstate 84 (east) (also under NYSTA) via NY-300 (until direct interchange is completed)
  • 133.60 Exit 21A Berkshire Extension (part of the major ticket system) to Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 90 east
  • 148.15 Exit 24 I-90; Interstate 87 diverts; Interstate 90 merges; the Northway (I-87) is 0.4 miles down I-90 (Most signage and maps simply refer to the interchanges of I-90 with the Thruway and the Northway as a single interchange. This simplifies it to a simple 2-way interchange between I-87 and I-90.)
  • 158.82 Exit 25A Interstate 88
  • 282.93 Exit 36 Interstate 81
  • 419.69 end of major ticket system toll barrier (also known as the Williamsville Toll Barrier)
  • 419.60 Exit 50 Youngmann Expressway, bypass for the northern suburbs of Buffalo, terminating at I-190 (NY)
  • 426.17 Exit 53 Niagara Thruway (under NYSTA) I-190 (NY)
  • 430.51 beginning of minor ticket system toll barrier (also known as the Lackawanna Toll Barrier)
  • 494.51 end of minor ticket system toll barrier (also known as the Ripley Toll Barrier)
  • 496.00 Pennsylvania state line; Interstate 90 continues
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Cross-Westchester Expressway

Entirely designated as Interstate 287. This is a toll-free portion of the Thruway.

  • 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)
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New England Thruway

Entirely designated as Interstate 95. It uses the same exit numbering scheme as the rest of I-95 in New York Major interchanges:

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Garden State Parkway Connector

It 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.

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Interstate 84

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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.

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.

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Berkshire Connector

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Niagara Thruway

Entirely designated as Interstate 190 (New York)

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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 (where there is now a complicated hybrid of a flat rate tolls and two ticketed tolls) 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 (including toll barrier 15) is similar to Massachusetts Turnpike interchange 14/15, in that it has three toll components. Unlike in Massachusetts, a single exit number is used for traffic in both directions on the Thruway, but the toll ticket shows the mainline barrier as #15. (This is not unusual, though; it happens at all of the other four ticket system terminii: the terminal barrier gets a number one less or greater than the last exit before it.) Since there are two toll plazas (The three components are split up in a very unusual manner, in what looks like a usual Thruway interchange, with a barrier across the mainline right in the middle of it.), it is hard to guess how this works by looking at even the most detailed arial photographs. In Massachusetts, the three components are split into four distinct plazas. (One component has a seperate eastbound and westbound plaza.) The three components in New York are as follows:
    • The large ticket systems southern terminus (#15 on the ticket): this is for all through traffic, not exiting or entering at 16. Note that there is another exit #15 south of here, which might cause confusion. (This is probably why Massachusetss uses two exit numbers on their interchange.)
    • Exit #16 ticket toll: This is pretty much an ordinary ticket toll. The huge exception is the fact that this component only covers traffic headed to and from Albany. The prices on a #16 ticket are cheaper than those on a #15 ticket (as are the prices listed on any other ticket for these), despite the fact that both tolls are located at the same place. This is probably to cover the additional 15 miles to the real exit 15, which are otherwise untolled.
    • Exit #16 flat rate to/from New York: There is a flat-rate toll for traffic not travelling at all within the ticket system. This is sort of like "nipping" it. If this weren't in place, then you'd end up paying a 15-to-16 ticket toll, which is nonexistant, because it would mean getting the ticket and then paying it at the same physical interchange.
  • 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)).
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External links

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