New York State Route 85

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NY Route 85
New Scotland Road
Length: 26.49 mi[1] (42.63 km)
Formed: 1930[2]
West end: CR 351/CR 353 in Rensselaerville
Major
junctions:		 US 20 in Albany
East end: I-90 in Albany
Counties: Albany
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 84 NY 85A >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 85 is a New York State Route located completely in Albany County, New York. It is 26.49 miles (42.65 km) long and runs from Interstate 90 exit 4 in Albany to County Route 351 and County Route 353 in Rensselaerville. It also has a loop, New York State Route 85A which passes through the village of Voorheesville.

Contents

[edit] Route description

NY 85 starts in the hamlet of Rensselaerville at the Ten Mile Creek bridge, the terminus of County Route 351. It proceeds through Rensselaerville and makes a right, heading towards Reidsville. Prior to reaching Reidsville it bears left, and proceeds to a hill known to locals as the “Letter-S”, named after the old-routing of the highway. On the "Letter-S", NY 85 is concurrent with NY 443, which proceeds to Berne and Schoharie westbound and to Albany eastbound. At the bottom of the “Letter-S”, by the Stewarts Gas Station, Route 85 turns east, splitting from Route 443. NY 85 then proceeds northeastward to the New Salem Hill, which bypasses an old routing of the highway. NY 157 splits off prior to the New Salem Hill, providing access to Thacher Park.

Communities

At the bottom of New Salem Hill is the hamlet of New Salem. NY 85A splits off here and reunites just east of Voorheesville. NY 85 proceeds through suburban Slingerlands until it reaches a roundabout at Route 140 and New Scotland Ave. Following a new alignment that opened in 2007 known as the Slingerland Bypass Extension, it proceeds as a four lane highway with a series of roundabouts providing access to local roads. NY 85 remains four lanes wide until it reaches the Blessing Road roundabout, where it narrows to two lanes until reaching the city limits in Albany. This section was originally planned to be four lanes wide as well, but was constructed with only two lanes due to community activism by an anti-sprawl group known as the Bethlehem Lincoln Republicans in the early 1960s. It is widely expected to expanded to four lanes after the completion of the Slingerlands Bypass extension.[citation needed]

Within the city of Albany, NY 85 is a four-lane expressway serving the western part of the city. Between US 20 (Western Avenue) and Interstate 90 (where NY 85 ends), NY 85 is networked with Washington Avenue and the Harriman State Offices complex with a labyrinth of ramps. There are also exits for Lincoln Avenue (only accessible from the eastbound direction) and Krumkill Road. After the Krumkill Road exit, NY 85 crosses into the The Town of Bethlehem and becomes a two-lane road (the Slingerlands Bypass). The speed limit remains the same until the bypass ends at New Scotland Road. The route originally followed New Scotland Road into Albany, terminating at U.S. Route 20 (Madison Avenue). The small portion of New Scotland Road between the current routing and the Albany city line is New York State Route 910E, an unsigned reference route.

[edit] History

NY 85 was assigned in the 1930 renumbering to a previously unnumbered roadway between Oak Hill and Albany. Originally, NY 85 began at NY 81 in Oak Hill and followed Makey Road and Siebert Road north to Medusa, then continued northeast to Westerlo on County Routes 351, 402, 404, and 401. Past Westerlo, NY 85 was routed on what is now NY 143 to the Delaware Turnpike near Reidsville, where it joined its current alignment. North of Slingerlands, NY 85 followed New Scotland Road and New Scotland Avenue into downtown Albany, where it terminated at U.S. Route 20.[2] The portion of the route between Medusa and Reidsville was realigned in the mid-1930s to serve the hamlet of Rensselaerville. Instead of heading east from Medusa, NY 85 was rerouted to follow CR 352, CR 360, CR 359, and CR 353 north to Rensselaerville, where it joined its current alignment.[3] NY 85 was truncated to Rensselaerville within the following decade.[4]

Construction on the Slingerlands Bypass, a limited-access highway beginning at Maher Road north of Slingerlands and passing through western Albany, began in the early 1960s. When the highway was completed later in the decade, NY 85 was rerouted onto the bypass.[5] The old alignment along New Scotland Road from where NY 85 turns onto the bypass to the Albany city line (a distance of 0.38 miles (0.61 km)) is maintained by NYSDOT as New York State Route 910E, an unsigned reference route.[6]

An extension of the two-lane highway bypass was constructed in 2007.[citation needed] Four roundabouts were built, the southernmost where NY 85 currently meets NY 140 at Cherry Avenue Extension.[citation needed] After the roadway opened to traffic on November 7, 2007, NY 85 was rerouted onto the newly constructed portion of the bypass while the section of New Scotland Road between NY 140 and Maher Road became part of an extended NY 910E.[citation needed] The new highway, four lanes divided, meets the existing highway portion of the bypass at the same Maher Road, at the third roundabout.[citation needed] Construction on the extension is not fully complete in some areas, however.[citation needed]

NY 85 was once proposed to be extended to the unbuilt Interstate 687.[7]

[edit] NY 85A

NY 85A

NY 85A (5.54 miles (8.92 km)[8]) is an alternate route of NY 85 in New Scotland, accessing Voorheesville.

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Albany Rensselaerville 0.00 CR 351 / CR 353
Westerlo 6.51 NY 143 Western terminus of NY 143
Berne 10.18 NY 443 west (Helderberg Trail) Western terminus of overlap
New Scotland 12.20 NY 443 east (Delaware Turnpike) Eastern terminus of overlap
14.43 NY 157 (Thacher Park Road) Eastern terminus of NY 157
New Salem 15.33 NY 85A (New Salem Road) Western terminus of NY 85A
New Scotland 18.89 NY 85A (Maple Road) Eastern terminus of NY 85A
Bethlehem 21.69 NY 140 / New Scotland Avenue (NY 910E) Roundabout; southern terminus of NY 140
22.22 Maher Road Roundabout
Albany 24.55 Buckingham Drive Interchange; access via Krumkill Road eastbound
25.33 US 20 Interchange; access via Ormond Street eastbound and Daytona Street westbound
25.37 Brevator Street Interchange; to Harriman State Office Complex
State Offices Interchange; to outer complex loop eastbound and inner loop westbound
26.05 Lincoln Avenue / Washington Avenue Interchange; access to Lincoln Avenue eastbound and to Washington Avenue and complex westbound
26.49 I-90 Exit 4 (I-90)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Traffic Data Report - NY 55 to I-87 (PDF). NYSDOT (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
  2. ^ a b 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
  3. ^ Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1938/39 edition, (W.A. Thibodeau, 1938).
  4. ^ United States Geological Survey. Binghamton, NY Quadrangle [map], 1:250,000, Eastern United States 1:250,000. (1948) Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
  5. ^ National Bridge Inventory, a database compiled by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, available at www.nationalbridges.com. Accessed 2007-12-13.
  6. ^ Empire State Roads - Reference Routes, Region 1
  7. ^ Interstate 687 New York @ Interstate-Guide.com
  8. ^ 2006 Traffic Data Report for New York State (PDF) p. 208. New York State Department of Transportation (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2008-02-09.

[edit] External links