New York State Route 2

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U.S. Route 2 also enters New York.
NY Route 2
Length: 30.89 mi[1] (49.71 km)
Formed: By 1946 (current alignment)[2]
West end: I-87/NY 7 in Latham
Major
junctions:		 US 9 in Latham
US 4 in Troy
East end: MA 2 at Petersburgh
Counties: Albany, Rensselaer
Numbered highways in New York
< US 2 NY 3 >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference
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New York State Route 2 is a state route in New York state, running from Interstate 87 and NY 7 at Latham east to the Massachusetts state line, where it continues to Boston as Massachusetts Route 2. Cities along the highway include Troy and Watervliet. Grafton Lakes State Park is off this highway in Grafton.

At Petersburg Pass just west of the state line, Route 2 reaches 2,400 feet (732 m) in elevation, one of the highest points on New York's state highway system.

Contents

[edit] Route description

NY 2 begins at Interstate 87 exit 6 in Latham as a continuation of NY 7, which leaves Troy-Schenectady Road at the interchange to join I-87. The route continues east on Troy-Schenectady Road to U.S. Route 9, which it intersects via an unconventional traffic circle. Instead of directly intersecting US 9, NY 2 meets a series of ramps leading to and from the road while US 9 itself crosses under the circle, allowing for a continuous flow of traffic on US 9. Past US 9, NY 2 continues east through eastern Latham to Watervliet, where it becomes 19th Street and meets NY 32 a short distance from the Hudson River. NY 2 then passes over Interstate 787 before crossing the Hudson via the Congress Street Bridge and entering Troy on the opposite bank, where the route splits into a one-way pair along Congress Street (westbound) and Ferry Street (eastbound).

The Congress Street Bridge
The Congress Street Bridge

Four blocks into Troy, NY 2 intersects U.S. Route 4, also routed along a one-way pair through the city. At 3rd Street, NY 2 meets US 4 southbound; it then intersects US 4 northbound at 4th Street. After traversing two more blocks, NY 2 merges into a single carriageway at 8th Street. NY 2 continues east along the now two-way Congress Street, passing south of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before becoming Brunswick Road at an intersection with NY 66 in eastern Troy.

East of Troy, NY 2 meets NY 278 and NY 351 in Brunswick before skirting the southern edge of Grafton Lakes State Park in Grafton. The route then continues east from Grafton into the hamlet of Petersburgh in the the town of the same name. As NY 2 enters from the west, down a steep incline, it curves leftward while Moses Road continues straight ahead. This surface street in Petersburgh ends at NY 22, while NY 2 continues over NY 22 on an overpass. North of the overpass, Main Street intersects NY 22 and connects to NY 2, which curves right. Westbound NY 2 traffic curves left for the overpass, with Main Street continuing straight ahead in the same manner that Moses Road does on the west side. Collectively, Main Street and Moses Road make up the 0.41-mile (0.66 km) long New York State Route 914A, an unsigned reference route.[3] Past NY 22, NY 2 briefly occupies Main Street before heading southeast to the Massachusetts state line, where it becomes Route 2 upon entering the town of Williamstown, Massachusetts.

[edit] History

Before the introduction of the U.S. Highway system, the number 2 was assigned to the alignment currently used by U.S. Route 11.[4] When US 11 was established, the Route 2 designation was reassigned to the road from the Pennsylvania state line south of Corning to Rochester.[5] This road was originally Route 4 but also had to be renumbered due to U.S. Route 4.[6]

In 1935, U.S. Route 15 was extended north into New York, taking over Route 2, and the existing Owego-Rochester route (old NY 15) was renumbered as NY 2 to eliminate the duplicate route numbers. (Routes 2 and 15 were basically swapped).[7] In the 1930 renumbering, the connection to Massachusetts Route 2 from Troy was assigned Route 96.[8] Routes 2 and 96 were swapped by 1946 to match the Massachusetts route number, giving the Owego-Rochester route the number 96.[2]

In 1986, NY 2 was extended west to Latham after NY 7 was rerouted onto the newly-opened NY 7 "Alternate" freeway to the north.[9]

[edit] Future

NYSDOT has announced plans to construct a Single-Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) at exit 6 for the Northway to replace the current diamond interchange in place.[10]

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Albany Latham 0.00 I-87 / NY 7 Exit 6 (I-87/NY 7)
0.51 US 9 Latham traffic circle
Watervliet 3.82 NY 32
Rensselaer Troy 4.38 US 4 south
4.45 US 4 north
5.39 NY 66 Northern terminus of NY 66
Brunswick 11.74 NY 278 Southern terminus of NY 278
12.18 NY 351 Northern terminus of NY 351
Petersburgh 25.10 NY 22
30.89 MA 2 Continuation into Massachusetts

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Traffic Data Report - US 1 to US 9 (PDF). NYSDOT (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  2. ^ a b Rand McNally. Rand McNally Road Atlas [map]. (1946) Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  3. ^ Empire State Roads - Reference Routes, Region 1
  4. ^ Rand McNally. Rand McNally Road Atlas [map]. (1926) Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  5. ^ Automobile Blue Book Inc.. Automobile Blue Book [map]. (1929) Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  6. ^ Rand McNally. Rand McNally Road Atlas [map]. (1926) Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  7. ^ Shell. Ontario [map]. Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company. (1935) Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  8. ^ Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1930/31 and 1931/32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930/31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the 1930 renumbering
  9. ^ National Bridge Inventory, a database compiled by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, available at www.nationalbridges.com. Accessed 2007-09-12.
  10. ^ I-87 Exit 6 Project (HTML). NYSDOT (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-16.

[edit] External links