Interstate 687 (I-687) was a proposed

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which con ...

in the

Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politica ...

region of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in the United States. The highway would have connected

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

in to

I-87 Interstate 87 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States: * Interstate 87 (New York), a highway running from New York City north to the Canadian border in Champlain, New York. * Interstate 87 (North Carolina) ...

and the

Albany International Airport Albany International Airport is six miles (9 km) northwest of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority. ALB covers of land. It is an air port of entry in the town of Colon ...

in Colonie. I-687 faced opposition from those living in the path of the highway, and ultimately all that was built of the highway was its interchange with I-90 in Albany, which now connects to a surface road, Corporate Woods Boulevard. The project was cancelled in 1973, and I-687 was removed from the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

four years later. A small portion of what would have been I-687 is now used as a connector between the

Adirondack Northway Interstate 87 (I-87) is a north–south Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of New York. It is most of the main highway between New York City and Montreal. The highway begins at exit 47 off I-278 in the New York ...

and the

, however it does not have a route designation and was completed as its own separate project in November 2019.

Route description

I-687 was to begin between exits 24 and 25 on the

New York State Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...

. It would continue north to a diamond intersection with

NY-5 The 5th congressional district of New York is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives, represented by Democrat Gregory Meeks. The district is located in Queens. A plurality of the district's population is Africa ...

(Central Avenue). It would then proceed north and east to an exit with NY-155, and farther to an interchange with Interstate 88, via a connector running on the west side of the airport. I-687 would then have an entrance to the

, the main reason for its existence. Continuing east, I-687 would then have a cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 87 (the

). Continuing east, I-687 would enter an interchange with a proposed northward extension of NY-85 (the Crosstown Arterial), serving as the northern terminus of NY-85. The highway would then curve southeast into a diamond interchange with Osborne Road. After one final interchange with Everett Road, I-687 would end at exit 5A on I-90, now not associated with the Thruway. This would also include an entrance and exit to North Manning Boulevard, for direct access to Downtown Albany. The highway would have been long.

History

The initial plans for the

's portion of the

were drawn up in the late 1950s. One of the highways proposed at this time was I-687, also known as the "Northway Connection". When the

(

) was completed through Colonie in 1960, a gap was left in the Northway's exit numbering system for an interchange with I-687. The exits with

NY 5 New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syrac ...

(Central Avenue) and Albany Shaker Road were designated as exits 2 and 4, respectively, leaving exit 3 for I-687. No such gap was left on the toll-free section of

, where the I-687 exit was numbered exit 5A. The construction of I-687 would have forced hundreds of households from their homes, most of which are located off of Albany Shaker Road (NY-155 east of I-87). By way of comparison, today's Crossing Park in Colonie would have been directly in the path of the highway. As such, the project faced opposition from residents of the town of Colonie. The construction of the road was started despite the controversy surrounding it, and the interchange with I-90 was completed . Construction was halted soon afterward, however, as state and federal funds were diverted away from the project. I-687 and the proposed northward extension of the Crosstown Arterial ( NY 85) were both cancelled by the state of New York in late September 1973, at which time the

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...

(NYSDOT) requested that I-687 be removed from the Interstate Highway System. The request was granted in 1977. I-90 exit 5A, the only part of the project that was ever constructed, was left as an interchange to nowhere for roughly a decade. The North Manning Boulevard connection was never built. In the early 1980s, the large, freeway-standard

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

was linked up with Corporate Woods Boulevard, a local, two-lane street leading to an office park located just north of I-90 on Albany Shaker Road. The

(NYSDOT) reconfigured the exit 4 and 5 ramps, which helped relieve traffic congestion in this area. On July 9, 2019, it was announced that the new airport connector will become exit 3. Exit 3 gives access to Albany International Airport, exit 4 gives access to Wolf Road, and the exit 5 ramp southbound was realigned to meet directly with the Northway, instead of through the conjoined frontage road. Exit 4 will be relocated, and will become an access exit to Albany Shaker Road and Albany International Airport.

Current form

While the idea for I-687 is basically dead as of the end of 2019 with only an interchange to nowhere at exit 5A on

built, a new exit 3 flyover ramp from

(the Adirondack Northway) to

NY 155 New York State Route 155 (NY 155) is a state highway located entirely within Albany County, New York, Albany County in the Capital District, New York, Capital District of New York (state), New York. The western terminus of the route is a ...

(Albany Shaker Road) called the Albany Airport Connector is currently in use where I-687 would have been built, providing an easier connection between the Northway and the Airport. The connector was completed in November 2019.

Exit list

Current

Original proposal

The original proposal would have had ten exits as follows:

References

{{3di, 87 87-6 87-6 87-6 6 Transportation in Albany County, New York Transportation in Albany, New York