Interstate 690

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Interstate 690 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length:	14.19 mi[1] (22.84 km)
Formed:	Early 1970s
West end:	I-90/Thruway/NY 690 in Van Buren
Major junctions:	I-81 in Syracuse
East end:	I-481 in DeWitt
Numbered highways in New York < I-684 NY 690 > Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

Interstate 690 (abbreviated I-690) is a 14.19 mile-long urban Interstate Highway built in the early 1970s in the Syracuse, New York area. I-690 travels southeast from exit 39 on the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) in Van Buren, passing through the western suburbs of Syracuse before heading east through the city itself and terminating in DeWitt, where it merges into Interstate 481. The expressway continues northwest of the Thruway as New York State Route 690.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 3 Future 4 Exit list 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Route description

I-690 is, in many ways, a typical urban expressway. The highway has three lanes for most of its length through Syracuse and its suburbs. It is close to buildings in downtown and has an incomplete interchange with Interstate 81 in the center of the city. There is no direct freeway ramp from I-690 east to I-81 north and I-81 south to I-690 west. NY 298, which interchanges with I-81 at exit 22 west of the I-81/I-690 interchange, must be used to make these connections. I-690 serves the Great New York State Fair by way of exits 5-7 and is one of the few Interstates to have a traffic light which allows buses to gain access to a parking lot.

Even though I-690 continues north of the Thruway as NY 690, the numbering system on I-690 does not continue with the route. The interchange with the Thruway is labelled as Exit 1, leaving exits on NY 690 without numbers. Additionally, NY 690 is signed north-south while I-690 is signed east-west.

[edit] History

I-690 follows an old railroad bed through a portion of downtown Syracuse and actually cuts through an old train station. While traveling westbound, there are remnants of the old railroad station loading area with cement statues of people waiting for trains, who are occasionally dressed up for winter by area residents with scarves and other winter apparel.

I-690 gained a mile when its western terminus was relocated in 1988. The interchange with the Thruway was relocated and completely rebuilt, forcing a complete renumbering of all the exits on the highway.

During construction of the I-81/I-690 interchange, fliers were mailed to area residents describing how to navigate the intersection.

[edit] Future

From where I-690 terminates at Interstate 481, there have been plans for decades to extend the highway eastward to Manlius or to the far east suburb of Chittenango, but these plans have yet to become a reality. This extension would have been numbered as NY 290 due to the presence of NY 690 to the northeast and the unlikelihood of Interstate 290 in Buffalo being extended. The intention of extending the expressway is easy to see from above by observing the awkward onramps at this intersection.

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Onondaga	Van Buren	0.00		NY 690	Continuation beyond I-90 / Thruway
			1	I-90 / Thruway – Albany, Buffalo
			2	Jones Road
			3	NY 48 (Farrell Road)	Westbound exit and entrance; southern terminus of NY 48
	Geddes		4	John Glenn Boulevard
		2.05	5	State Fair Boulevard / Van Vleck Road – Lakeland
		4.55	6	NY 695 to NY 5 – Auburn, Lakeland	Northern terminus of NY 695
			7	NY 297 – Solvay, Fairgrounds	Northern terminus of NY 297
	Syracuse	7.14	8	Hiawatha Boulevard	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		7.43	9	NY 298 (Bear Street) to I-81 north – Watertown	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; southern terminus of NY 298
		7.75	10	North Geddes Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			11	West Genesee Street (NY 5) – Downtown Syracuse	Eastbound exit only
		8.39	12	West Street
		9.00		I-81 – Binghamton, Watertown	No connection from I-690 east to I-81 north and from I-81 south to I-690 west
		9.29	13	Townsend Street – Downtown Syracuse	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
		10.32	14	Teall Avenue
		11.28	15	Midler Avenue (NY 598)
	East Syracuse	12.34	16N-S	NY 635 (Thompson Road)	Exits 16 and 17 use a collector-distributor ramp system
		13.19	17	Bridge Street – East Syracuse
	DeWitt	14.19		I-481 to I-90 / Thruway – DeWitt	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

[edit] See also

• New York State Route 690 for exits along NY 690

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Empire State Roads
• Interstate Guide

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 90 South Dakota: 190 — Illinois: 190 • 290 — Ohio: 290 (former) • 490 — New York: 190 • 290 • 390 • 490 • 590 • 690 • 790 • 890 • 990 — Massachusetts: 190 • 290