New York State Route 50

NYS Route 50
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and the city of Saratoga Springs
Length: 31.67 mi[2] (50.97 km)
Existed: 1930[1] – present
Major junctions
South end: NY 5 in Scotia
  I-87 in Saratoga Springs
North end: NY 32 in Northumberland
Location
Counties: Schenectady, Saratoga
Highway system

Numbered highways in New York
Interstate • U.S. • N.Y. (former) • Reference • County

← NY 49 NY 51 →

New York State Route 50 (NY 50) is a 31.67-mile (50.97 km) state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 5 in Scotia. Its northern terminus is at a junction with NY 32 in the Saratoga County hamlet of Gansevoort.

Contents

Route description

All but 1.85 miles (2.98 km) of NY 50 is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). The lone locally maintained segment lies within the city of Saratoga Springs, where the route is city-maintained from the southern boundary of the city's inner district to Van Dam Street, a local street three blocks north of NY 9N and NY 29.[3][4]

Schenectady County

Route 50 begins in Scotia at an intersection with NY 5 and heads to the northeast, winding its way through the village before passing over an Amtrak-owned section of the Hudson Subdivision and leaving the village for the surrounding town of Glenville. About 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the Scotia village line, NY 50 meets Freemans Bridge Road (unsigned NY 911F) at a junction located just west of the Schenectady County Airport, home to the Stratton Air National Guard Base (which houses the 109th Airlift Wing) and the Empire State Aerosciences Museum. The route continues onward, traveling past the airport and through a series of residential communities in the northeastern corner of the county on its way to the Saratoga County line.

Saratoga County

NY 50 enters Saratoga County in Burnt Hills and winds its way through the countryside. At Ballston Spa, NY 67 comes in from the west as High Street, just north of the Verbeck House. The two run concurrent into the village's downtown, past the National Bottle Museum.

On its way to Saratoga Springs, NY 50 passes the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Saratoga Spa State Park. It then meets up with U.S. Route 9 (US 9) and forms a brief three-way concurrency with NY 29 at the corner of Broadway and Washington Avenue adjacent to Congress Park. About a quarter-mile later, NY 29 becomes Lake Avenue and heads towards Schuylerville. The southern terminus of NY 9N is also at this point, known as Church Street within city limits. The 9/50 concurrency goes another 1¼ miles before the former splits off and goes towards Glens Falls. From Broadway and Van Dam Street to Interstate 87 (I-87), NY 50 is known as either the C.V. Whitney Memorial Highway or, more informally, "The Arterial".

East of I-87, NY 50 passes the Wilton Mall, located about three-quarters of a mile from I-87 in the town of Wilton. After passing the mall, NY 50 cuts through the countryside, ultimately reaching its end in Gansevoort at an intersection with NY 32.

History

When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924, the portion of modern NY 50 south of Saratoga Springs was designated as part of NY 10, a north–south highway extending from the New Jersey state line near New York City to Saranac Lake via Albany and Saratoga Springs.[5] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY 10 was realigned south of Long Lake to pass west of the Capital District on its way to the Southern Tier.[6] The old alignment of NY 10 between Scotia and Saratoga Springs became part of the new NY 50, which continued north to Gansevoort along a previously unnumbered roadway.[1]

By 1947, Erie Boulevard, Maxon Road, and Freemans Bridge Road were collectively designated as a spur of NY 50. As a result, the NY 50 designation effectively split in Glenville, with the west branch continuing south to Scotia and the east branch continuing southeast to NY 5 in Schenectady.[7] The east branch was removed from maps at some point between 1958 and 1962;[8][9] however, it was redesignated as a special route of NY 50 by 1968. While maps drawn by General Drafting labeled the route as "NY 50 Alternate",[10] maps drawn by the H.M. Gousha Company labeled it as "NY 50 Spur".[11] The special route was eliminated at some point in the late 1970s or early 1980s.[12][13] The portion from Nott Street north to NY 50 remains state-maintained as NY 911F, an unsigned reference route.[14]

Major intersections

County Location Mile[2] Destinations Notes
Schenectady
 Scotia 0.00 NY 5
Glenville 1.98 Freemans Bridge Road (NY 911F)
Saratoga
 Ballston 6.97 CR 339 Former western terminus of NY 339; hamlet of Burnt Hills
8.36 NY 146A Northern terminus of NY 146A
13.02 NY 67 east Southern terminus of NY 50 / NY 67 overlap
Ballston Spa 13.91 NY 67 west Northern terminus of NY 50 / NY 67 overlap
Saratoga Springs 20.19 US 9 south (Broadway) Southern terminus of US 9 / NY 50 overlap
20.49 NY 9P (Spring Street) Northern terminus of NY 9P
20.52 NY 29 west (Washington Avenue) Southern terminus of NY 29 / NY 50 overlap
20.74 NY 9N (Church Street / Lake Avenue) / NY 29 east Southern terminus of NY 9N; northern terminus of NY 29 / NY 50 overlap
21.72 US 9 north (Maple Avenue) Northern terminus of US 9 / NY 50 overlap
22.74 I-87 (Adirondack Northway) Exit 15 (I-87)
Northumberland 31.67 NY 32 Hamlet of Gansevoort
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b "2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. pp. 193–194. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_Traffic_Data_Report_2008.pdf. Retrieved January 13, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Saratoga County Inventory Listing" (CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. March 2, 2010. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-repository2/INV_2010-03-02_saratoga.csv. Retrieved December 22, 2010. 
  4. ^ "Schenectady County Inventory Listing" (CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. March 2, 2010. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-repository2/INV_2010-03-02_schenectady.csv. Retrieved December 22, 2010. 
  5. ^ "New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers". The New York Times: p. XX9. December 21, 1924. 
  6. ^ Dickinson, Leon A. (January 12, 1930). "New Signs for State Highways". The New York Times: p. 136. 
  7. ^ State of New York Department of Public Works. Official Highway Map of New York State (Map). Cartography by General Drafting (1947–48 ed.). 
  8. ^ Esso (1958). New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region (Map). Cartography by General Drafting (1958 ed.). 
  9. ^ Esso (1962). New York with Sight-Seeing Guide (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. 
  10. ^ Esso (1968). New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting (1969–70 ed.). 
  11. ^ Shell Oil Company (1973). New York (Map). Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company (1973 ed.). 
  12. ^ Exxon (1979). New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. 
  13. ^ State of New York (1981). I Love New York Tourism Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. 
  14. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (January 2009) (PDF). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2009%20tour-bk.pdf. Retrieved July 16, 2009. 

External links