Interstate 90 (I-90) is a part of 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. T ...

that runs from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, to Boston, Massachusetts. In the US state of New York, I-90 extends from the Pennsylvania state line at

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to the

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state line at

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, and is the second-longest highway in the state after New York State Route 17 (NY 17). Although most of the route is part of the tolled

New York State Thruway , direction_a = South , terminus_a = {{Jct, state=NY, I, 95 at the The Bronx, Bronx–Yonkers, New York City line , junction = {{plainlist, * {{jct, state=NY, I, 287, Parkway, Saw Mill, NY, 119 in Elmsford, New York, Elmsford * {{jct, state=NY, ...

, two non-tolled sections exist along I-90 (the first, situated outside of Buffalo, is included in the Thruway system; the second, situated 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 poli ...

, is not part of the Thruway system and links Albany and its eastern suburbs). Within New York, I-90 has a complete set of auxiliary Interstates, which means that there are Interstates numbered

I-190 Interstate 190 may refer to the following Interstate Highways in the United States related to Interstate 90: * Interstate 190 (Illinois), a spur into Chicago's O'Hare International Airport *Interstate 190 (Massachusetts), a spur from Worcester to Le ...

through I-990 in the state, with no gaps in between. For most of its length in New York, I-90 runs parallel to the former

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing ...

route, NY 5, US Route 20 (US 20) and the CSX Transportation railroad mainline that traverses the state. I-90 was assigned in 1957 as part of the establishment of the Interstate Highway System. In New York, it was overlaid on the preexisting New York State Thruway from Pennsylvania to Albany, from where it would have continued to Massachusetts on a new freeway that bypassed the Berkshire Connector to the north. Ultimately, the freeway was built from the Thruway mainline in Albany to the Berkshire Connector in

Schodack Schodack is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 12,965 at the 2020 census. The town name is derived from the Mahican word, Escotak. The town is in the southwestern part of the county. Schodack is southeast of ...

, and I-90 was assigned to the segment of the connector east of the proposed freeway. The Albany–Schodack freeway was completed in stages during the 1960s and 1970s and fully open by 1977.

Route description

New York State Thruway

West of Albany, I-90 in New York is designated along the mainline of the

. The Thruway begins at the Pennsylvania state line in Chautauqua County, following the shore of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...

northeast and passes through the town of Cheektowaga, a large

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

of Buffalo directly east of the city. Two auxiliary routes,

(leading to

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and connecting into Canada as Ontario Highway 405) and I-290 (a northerly bypass of Buffalo) connect with I-90 here. Both auxiliary routes provide access between I-90 and Canada's largest city,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. East of Erie County, the Thruway turns east and passes through the suburbs of several major cities in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York (state), New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upsta ...

, generally following the path of the

. It passes south of Rochester and north of Syracuse, which are served by three auxiliary Interstate Highways: I-490 and I-390 connect to Rochester, while I-690 leads to Syracuse. The speed limit, enforced by the New York State Police, is along most of this stretch. I-90 west in West Seneca NY

East of Syracuse, the Thruway follows the Erie Canal and, later, the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk ...

into the Mohawk Valley toward Utica, where I-90 skirts the northern edge of downtown and meets I-790, a short route leading into the city's center. Farther east, the freeway indirectly serves the canal and riverside cities of Little Falls (via NY 169) and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

(

NY 30 New York State Route 30 (NY 30) is a state highway in the central part of New York in the United States. It extends for from an interchange with NY 17 (Future Interstate 86) in the Southern Tier to the US–Canada border in ...

) on its way to

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, where I-890 splits from the Thruway and serves as the connection to the city center. It rejoins I-90 in Albany County, where I-90 leaves the mainline of the Thruway at exit 24 in Albany, which is signed for I-87 north and I-90 east. Here, the route designation of the Thruway changes from I-90 east to I-87 south. Traffic intending to continue on I-90 or reach I-87 north must exit the Thruway here. Exit numbers and mile markers for I-90 reset after exiting.

Albany and Rensselaer counties

The Albany–

section of I-90—the only portion of I-90 in New York that is not part of the Thruway system—begins concurrent with I-87 and heads southeast from Thruway exit 24. Now a toll-free highway, I-90 and I-87 continue to exits 1N and 1S, which are for the Adirondack Northway (I-87) and Fuller Road Alternate (unsigned NY 910F), respectively. Located off exit 1S and Fuller Road Alternate, a spur of the Northway leading to Western Avenue ( US 20), is Crossgates Mall in

Guilderland Guilderland is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2020 census, the town had a population of 36,848. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Guilderland is on the central-northwest border ...

. I-90 proceeds eastward, meeting Washington Avenue at an interchange connecting to the University of Albany, SUNY, a state university, eastbound and Fuller Road ( County Route 156 R 156 westbound. Exits 3 and 4, located apart in an area bounded by Washington and Central ( NY 5) avenues, lead to the

W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus The W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus is an office park in western Albany, New York, United States that houses sixteen New York State Government office buildings. The land totals roughly and over 3 million square feet (280,000 ...

and the New York State Police Academy (exit 3) and to the Crosstown Arterial ( NY 85 at exit 4). I-90 subsequently crosses over NY 5 and passes north of

Westgate Plaza Westgate Plaza is a large strip mall in the city of Albany, New York, located on Central Avenue. Westgate is considered the first mall in the Albany area, and opened in 1957. Tenants Over the years, tenants have included: En lai restaurant C ...

as it connects to Everett Road ( CR 155). The freeway continues along the northern edge of Albany to exit 5A, a large trumpet interchange originally built to serve I-687. After that project was canceled, it was repurposed as an exit for Corporate Woods Boulevard. East of exit 5A, I-90 passes by slightly more residential areas ahead of a

stack interchange A directional interchange, colloquially known as a stack interchange, is a type of grade-separated junction between two controlled-access highways that allows for free-flowing movement to and from all directions of traffic. These interchanges e ...

with US 9 north of downtown Albany. Albany Memorial Hospital is located just north of the exit on US 9. I-90 east at US 9 in Albany NY

Not far to the east of US 9 is a second stack interchange, connecting I-90 to I-787 in the industrial northeasternmost section of the city of Albany. At this point, I-90 turns to the southeast and follows the

Patroon Island Bridge The Patroon Island Bridge is a multi-span deck truss bridge that spans the Hudson River in Albany, New York. A major crossing, it carries Interstate 90 in the east-west direction between Albany and Rensselaer Counties. It has been in service ...

over the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

and into Rensselaer County. Across the river, I-90 becomes the Rensselaer County Veterans Memorial Highway and passes through much less developed areas. In its first in the county, the freeway meets Washington Avenue at the northern edge of the city of Rensselaer and the west end of NY 43 in the town of

North Greenbush North Greenbush is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. North Greenbush is located in the western part of the county. The population was 13,292 at the 2020 census. The town has three main hamlets, Wynantskill in the northeastern ...

, southwest of US 4 and Defreestville. South of NY 43, I-90 and US 4 follow parallel routings into East Greenbush, where I-90 directly connects to US 4 at exit 9. I-90 heads southeastward across an undeveloped, forested section of the county, crossing over NY 151 and entering the town of Schodack, where it meets Miller Road, a connector between I-90 and the concurrent routes of US 9 and US 20. The freeway and the overlapping US Routes follow similar routings to Schodack Center, at which point I-90 finally connects to US 9 and US 20 at exits 11E and 11W. I-90 heads due south from this point, passing over NY 150 and paralleling US 9, which splits from US 20 at Schodack Center. The routes cross paths again at exit 12 just north of where I-90 rejoins the Thruway system at exit B1 of the Berkshire Connector.

Berkshire Connector

I-90 heads southeast on the connector, meeting the north end of the Taconic State Parkway in the Columbia County town of Chatham at exit B2 and NY 22 at exit B3 in the town of

from the

state line. The Berkshire Connector ends at the state line; however, I-90 continues southeast into Massachusetts as the Massachusetts Turnpike.

History

The east–west corridor I-90 follows across New York has always been major, followed by the Genesee Trail (1790s),

(1825),

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

(1853), and later the Yellowstone Trail (1912), which became US 20 and NY 5. It was planned as part of a nationwide

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implement ...

system as early as 1938. Exactly which cities would be served changed over the years, but it was the state of New York that made the decision in 1942, when they passed a law for the construction of a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– Albany– Buffalo–

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

"thruway". This highway, passing Utica, Syracuse, and Rochester on its path between Albany and Buffalo, would provide construction jobs in the post-World War II period. The Berkshire Thruway, a branch east from near Albany to

, was authorized in 1944, completing the east–west route across the state. However, construction, which began in 1946, proceeded very slowly, with only one portion open by 1950, when a law created the

New York State Thruway Authority The New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) is a public benefit corporation in New York State, United States. The NYSTA was formed in 1950 with the responsibility of constructing, maintaining, and operating the New York State Thruway, a syste ...

(NYSTA) to operate the route as a

. Construction then progressed much more rapidly, especially after 1954, when the authority was allowed to issue bonds not backed by the state (thus having higher

interest rate An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, t ...

s). The roadway was completed between Buffalo and Albany in 1954, to New York City in 1956, to Pennsylvania in 1957, and to Massachusetts in 1959. In the meantime, the

National Interstate and Defense Highways Act The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization of $25 billion for ...

was enacted in 1956, promising a toll-free network of

Interstate Highway 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. T ...

s throughout the nation. The Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) commissioner soon announced that the toll road met all federal Interstate Highway standards, and, on August 14, 1957, most of the mainline of the Thruway was incorporated into the system as part of I-87 and I-90. Most of the connecting Massachusetts Turnpike was also included, but a more northerly alignment, avoiding the Berkshire Thruway, was proposed by the states of New York and Massachusetts for I-90 through Albany past

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield ...

to East Lee, Massachusetts. This alignment would be about 30 percent shorter than the all-toll alignment and would provide relief to the four-lane Castleton Bridge on the Berkshire Thruway, which had been built narrower than the rest of the system because of the planned parallel alternate. The BPR objected to the duplication, which would cost over $90 million (equivalent to $ in ), and refused to approve this alignment. The eventual route ran southeast from Albany to the Berkshire Thruway at the

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interchange, providing Albany with an alternate route and additional bridge but not offering any savings in distance and creating a "toll trap" for drivers accessing the Taconic State Parkway from Albany. Construction on the route of I-90 through Albany began , with both ends at existing Thruway interchanges: exit 24, which crossed the Adirondack Northway (I-87) at a cloverleaf interchange and connected to Washington Avenue in western Albany, and exit B1, which connected to US 9 near Nassau. Work on the freeway began at the Northway and progressed southeasterly to the Berkshire Connector in Rensselaer County. The portion between the Northway and Everett Road was opened to traffic in the mid-1960s while the piece extending from Everett Road to US 4 east of Rensselaer was completed in the early 1970s. The last section of the highway was completed to US 9 and US 20 in Schodack Center and finished by 1977. The Northway cloverleaf was rebuilt in the late 1980s. In 1999, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

(FHWA), and NYSTA discussed redesignating the Berkshire Connector as I-90 and redesignating the non-toll part of I-90 from Thruway exit 24 to exit B1 on the connector as I-88. The section of the Thruway between exits 25 and 24 would then be codesignated as both I-90 and I-88. This was never implemented.

Exit list

The mileposts below for the non-Thruway section follow actual signage, where mile 0.00 is located at exit 24 of the Thruway. All exits in New York use sequential numbering.

References

External links