View source for Interstate 890

{{Short description|Auxiliary Interstate Highway in New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox road
| state = NY
| type = I
| route = 890
| map = {{maplink-road}}
| map_custom = yes
| map_notes = I-890 highlighted in red
| length_mi = 9.35
| length_ref = <ref>{{cite web |last = Starks |first = Edward |date = January 27, 2022 |title = Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/interstate_highway_system/routefinder/table02.cfm |access-date = December 8, 2022 |work = FHWA Route Log and Finder List |publisher = [[Federal Highway Administration]] }}</ref>
| established = {{circa|1962}}<ref name="1961map" /><ref name="1962map" />
| spur_type = I
| spur_of = 90
| direction_a = West
| terminus_a = {{plainlist|*{{jct|state=NY|I-Toll|90|NYST||NY|890|NY|5S}} in [[Rotterdam (town), New York|Rotterdam]]}}
| junction = {{Jct|state=NY|NY|7}} in Rotterdam<br>{{jct|state=NY|NY|7|NY|146}} in [[Guilderland, New York|Guilderland]]
| direction_b = East
| terminus_b = {{jct|state=NY|I-Toll|90|NYST}} in Guilderland
| counties = [[Schenectady County, New York|Schenectady]], [[Albany County, New York|Albany]]
| previous_type = NY
| previous_route = 878
| next_type = NY
| next_route = 890
}}
'''Interstate&nbsp;890''' ('''I-890''') is a {{convert|9.35|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} [[auxiliary Interstate Highway]] in the vicinity of [[Schenectady, New York]], in the United States. The highway runs southeast–northwest from an interchange with the [[New York State Thruway]] ([[Interstate 90 in New York|I-90]]) northwest of Schenectady to another junction with the thruway south of the city and passes through [[Downtown Schenectady]] along the way. Most of I-890 is six lanes wide, including a section that runs above an industrial section of Schenectady on an elevated highway. I-890 is a local, toll-free alternative to the Thruway, which bypasses the city and its suburbs to the southwest.

The section of I-890 west of Downtown Schenectady was mostly built over what was once part of [[New York State Route&nbsp;5S]] (NY 5S). I-890 was constructed in stages during the 1960s and 1970s, and NY 5S was gradually cut back to its current terminus west of Schenectady as more pieces of I-890 were completed. The highway is one of four [[Interstate Highway]]s in New York to use [[distance-based exit numbering]], the result of a [[New York State Department of Transportation]] (NYSDOT) experiment from the 1970s. In [[Schenectady County, New York|Schenectady County]], I-890 is designated as the '''Schenectady County Veterans Memorial Highway'''.<ref>{{Cite web |title = 2015 New York Laws :: HAY - Highway :: Article 12 - (Highway) STATE ROUTES :: 342-ZZ - Portion of the state highway system to be designated as the "Schenectady County Veterans Memorial Highway". |url = https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2015/hay/article-12/342-zz/ |website = Justia Law |language = en }}</ref>

==Route description==
I-890 begins at the toll booth for exit&nbsp;26 of the [[New York State Thruway]] in the [[Schenectady County, New York|Schenectady County]] town of [[Rotterdam (town), New York|Rotterdam]]. It initially heads to the east, connecting to [[New York State Route 890|NY&nbsp;890]] and [[New York State Route 5S|NY&nbsp;5S]] by way of a modified [[trumpet interchange]] that directly feeds into the thruway junction. At this point, I-890 takes over the four-lane [[right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]] established by NY&nbsp;890 to the north and follows the [[Mohawk River]] ([[Erie Canal]]) and [[CSX Transportation]]'s [[Selkirk Subdivision]] rail line southeast toward [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]]. The first {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} of I-890 passes through mostly undeveloped, wooded areas, a trend that finally ends as the highway curves east to meet the north end of [[New York State Route 337|NY&nbsp;337]] at exit&nbsp;2 near the [[Via Port Rotterdam]] shopping mall. Continuing on, I-890 follows the Mohawk River along the northern edge of [[General Electric]]'s Schenectady plant, connecting to the facility by way of two separate exits serving different parts of the complex.<ref name="google">{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=I-890+E+to:I-890+E&hl=en&ll=42.813788,-73.958931&spn=0.189391,0.445976&sll=42.839,-74.006867&sspn=0.011832,0.027874&geocode=FQ2wjQId7ryW-w%3BFWIQjQIdiNKX-w%3BFZJrjAIdHuCX-w&t=h&mra=dme&mrsp=0&sz=16&z=12 |title=Overview map of I-890 |access-date=April 11, 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Schenectady - Mohawk River I-890 (33168723571).jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of I-890 running along the Mohawk River]]
Not far from the General Electric plant is [[Downtown Schenectady]], which the now six-lane I-890 largely bypasses to the south and west on an elevated highway passing over a mostly industrial section of the city. The section closest to the city center runs past by the campus of [[Schenectady County Community College]] and provides panoramic views of Downtown Schenectady. I-890 heads south from downtown, crossing over the [[Delaware and Hudson Railway]] and CSX Transportation's [[Hudson Subdivision]] before finally connecting to downtown by way of Broadway at exit&nbsp;5. Past Broadway, the elevated highway comes to an end as I-890 heads southeastward into a dense residential area on a plateau overlooking the city. The homes are not visible from I-890, however, as the freeway is lined on both sides by a thick line of trees serving as [[noise barrier]]s.<ref name="google" />

The residential section of Schenectady is served by a single exit for Michigan Avenue, a local street that connects to [[New York State Route 146|NY&nbsp;146]] at a junction two blocks north of I-890. From here, the freeway passes under NY&nbsp;146 before curving to the south and exiting the city limits. Now back in the town of Rotterdam, I-890 runs parallel to NY&nbsp;146 to an interchange with [[New York State Route 7|NY&nbsp;7]]. The state route joins I-890, following the highway as it narrows to four lanes and crosses back over the Hudson Subdivision rail line. I-890 and NY&nbsp;7 connect to High Bridge Road ([[County Route 48 (Schenectady County, New York)|County Route&nbsp;48]]) at exit&nbsp;8, the last junction in a residential area and the last in Schenectady County. Exit&nbsp;9, located just south of the [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]] line in a lightly developed commercial area, serves as the end of NY&nbsp;7's its [[wrong-way concurrency]] with I-890; the southbound exit also links to NY&nbsp;146 by way of a long ramp connecting to the state route. I-890 ends a short distance south of the exit at the toll booths for exit&nbsp;25 of the New York State Thruway.<ref name="google" />

The section of I-890 in Schenectady County is designated as the Schenectady County Veterans Memorial Highway.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2012%20tour-bk.pdf |title = Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State |author = New York State Department of Transportation |date = January 2012 |format = PDF |access-date = January 31, 2012 }}</ref> [[Exit number]]ing on I-890 is distance-based, a holdover from a [[New York State Department of Transportation|NYSDOT]] experiment during the early 1970s. However, because of how the exits are spaced along I-890, the exit numbers end up being mostly sequential anyway, with the only evidence of distance-based numbering being the existence of exit&nbsp;4C. I-890 is one of four Interstate Highways in New York that first utilized milepost-based exit numbering in contrast to the [[sequential exit numbering]] used elsewhere in New York.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.upstatenyroads.com/i890.shtml |work = Upstate New York Roads |title = Interstate 890 Interchange Guide |first = J.P. |last = Wing |date = September 8, 2009 |access-date = July 20, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110521194654/http://www.upstatenyroads.com/i890.shtml |archive-date = May 21, 2011 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Schenectady, New York 1955 Yellow Book.jpg|thumb|1955 ''Yellow Book'' map of Schenectady, showing what would become I-90 and I-890]]
The original riverside roadway along the southern bank of the [[Mohawk River]] in western [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]] was designated as part of [[New York State Route 5S|NY&nbsp;5S]] in the [[1930 state highway renumbering (New York)|1930 renumbering of state highways in New York]]. NY&nbsp;5S entered the Schenectady area on River Road and followed River and Rice roads and Erie Boulevard into Downtown Schenectady, where it ended at [[New York State Route 5|NY&nbsp;5]].<ref>{{cite map |title = Road Map of New York |year = 1930 |publisher = [[Standard Oil Company of New York]] |author = General Drafting }}</ref> In the initial plans for the [[Interstate Highway System]], outlined by the [[Bureau of Public Roads]] in the 1955 ''[[General Location of National System of Interstate Highways|Yellow Book]]'', the city of Schenectady would be served by two highways: one bypassing the city to the southwest (the [[New York State Thruway]]) and another that would loop north of the bypass route to serve Downtown Schenectady. The western portion of the loop route would run through the NY&nbsp;5S corridor.<ref>{{cite map |author = [[Bureau of Public Roads]] |date = September 1955 |map = Schenectady |title = General Location of National System of Interstate Highways Including All Additional Routes at Urban Areas Designated in September 1955 |scale = Scale not given |location = Washington, DC |publisher = Government Printing Office |page = 61 |oclc = 4165975 |map-url = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schenectady,_New_York_1955_Yellow_Book.jpg |via = [[Wikimedia Commons]] }}</ref>

The first section of I-890 to be completed was the portion from [[New York State Thruway]] exit&nbsp;25 southeast of [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]] to Altamont Avenue ([[New York State Route 146|NY&nbsp;146]]), which opened to traffic as I-890 {{circa|lk=no|1962}}.<ref name="1961map">{{cite map |title = New York and Metropolitan New York |publisher = [[Sunoco]] |author = [[H.M. Gousha Company]] |year = 1961 |edition = 1961–62 }}</ref><ref name="1962map">{{cite map |title = New York with Sight-Seeing Guide |publisher = [[Esso]] |author = [[General Drafting]] |year = 1962 }}</ref> A short extension to Brandywine Avenue was completed by 1964.<ref>{{cite map |title = New York and Metropolitan New York |publisher = [[Sinclair Oil Corporation]] |year = 1964 |author = [[Rand McNally and Company]] }}</ref> By 1968, all of I-890 west to modern exit&nbsp;3 was complete and open to traffic. As planned, I-890 replaced NY&nbsp;5S from Downtown Schenectady to exit&nbsp;3, where NY&nbsp;5S now terminated.<ref>{{cite map |title = New York |publisher = Esso |year = 1968 |edition = 1969–70 |author = General Drafting }}</ref> The remainder of the expressway was built {{circa|lk=no|1974}}.<ref>{{cite map |title = New York |publisher = [[Shell Oil Company]] |author = H.M. Gousha Company |year = 1973 |edition = 1973 }}</ref><ref name="1974map">{{cite map |title = New York and New Jersey Tourgide<!--sic--> Map |publisher = [[Gulf Oil Company]] |author = Rand McNally and Company |year = 1974 }}</ref> NY&nbsp;5S was cut back to I-890 exit&nbsp;2 in the mid-1970s,<ref name="1974map" /><ref>{{cite map |title = New York |publisher = [[Exxon]] |year = 1977 |edition = 1977–78 |author = General Drafting }}</ref> then to its modern eastern terminus in the late 1980s following a reconfiguration of the interchange linking I-890 to New York State Thruway exit&nbsp;26.<ref>{{cite map |author = Rand McNally and Company |publisher = Rand McNally and Company |title = New York |year = 1985 |isbn = 0-528-91040-X }}</ref><ref>{{cite map |publisher = [[DeLorme Mapping]] |title = Upstate New York City Street Maps |edition = 1st |year = 1990 |author = DeLorme Mapping |scale = 1:31,680 |page = 34 |section = C1 |isbn = 0-89933-300-1 }}</ref>
{{-}}

==Exit list==
{{NYinttop|exit|length_ref=<ref name="2008tvr">{{cite book |url = https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Volume%20Report%202008.pdf |title = 2008 Traffic Volume Report for New York State |date = June 16, 2009 |page = 246 |author = [[New York State Department of Transportation]] |publisher = New York State Department of Transportation |access-date = February 1, 2010 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120927024222/https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Volume%20Report%202008.pdf |archive-date = September 27, 2012 }}</ref>}}
{{NYint|exit
|county=Schenectady
|cspan=11
|location=Rotterdam
|lspan=5
|area=town
|mile=0.00
|mspan=2
|exit=
|road={{jct|state=NY|to1=to|NY|5|city1=Scotia|city2=Glenville|city3=Amsterdam}}
|notes=Western terminus; access via [[New York State Route 890|NY 890]]
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=none
|type=
|exit=1
|road={{jct|state=NY|I-Toll|90|NYST||NY|5S|dir3=west|city1=Rotterdam Junction}}
|notes=Signed as exits 1A (NY 5S) and 1B (I-90); eastern terminus of NY&nbsp;5S; exit 26 on I-90 / Thruway
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=2.94
|exit=2
|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|337|dir1=south|name1=Campbell Road|road|Rice Road}}
|notes=Signed as exits 2A (NY&nbsp;337) and 2B (Rice Road) westbound; northern terminus of NY 337
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=
|exit=3
|type=incomplete
|road=GE Truck Terminal
|notes=No westbound exit
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=4.40
|mspan=2
|exit=4B
|road=Erie Boulevard – GE Plant
|notes=Signed as exit 4 eastbound; serves [[Schenectady County Airport]] and [[Stratton ANGB]]; To [[Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway]]
}}
{{NYint|exit
|location=Schenectady
|lspan=4B
|mile=none
|exit=4C
|type=incomplete
|road={{jct|state=NY|to1=yes|NY|5|city1=Scotia}}
|notes=Westbound exit only
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=5.50
|exit=5
|road=Broadway – [[Proctor's Theatre (Schenectady, New York)|Proctors Theatre]]
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=5.59
|exit=
|type=incomplete
|road=Craig Street
|notes=Westbound entrance only
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=6.07
|exit=6
|road={{jct|state=NY|NY-Truck|5|name1=Michigan Avenue}}
|notes=NY 5 Truck not signed westbound
}}
{{NYint|exit
|location=Rotterdam
|area=town
|lspan=2
|mile=7.39
|exit=7
|type=concur
|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|7|dir1=east|city1=Troy}}
|notes=Western terminus of NY 7 concurrency
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=8.04
|exit=8
|road=High Bridge Road
}}
{{NYint|exit
|county=Albany
|cspan=3
|location1=Colonie
|location2=Guilderland
|location_group=town
|lspan=2
|mile=8.96
|mspan=2
|exit=9A
|type=concur
|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|7|dir1=west|to2=to|NY|146|name1=Curry Road}}
|notes=Eastern terminus of NY 7 concurrency; signed as exit 9 westbound; NY 146 not signed eastbound
}}
{{NYint|exit
|mile=none
|exit=9B
|type=incomplete
|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|146}}
|notes=Eastbound exit and entrance; last eastbound exit before toll
}}
{{NYint|exit
|location=Guilderland
|mile=9.45
|exit=
|type=etc
|road={{jct|state=NY|I-Toll|90|NYST||I|87|I|88|dir4=west|to3=yes}}
|notes=Eastern terminus; exit 25 on I-90 / Thruway
}}
{{jctbtm|exit|keys=concur,incomplete,etc}}

==See also==
*{{Portal-inline|U.S. roads}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Attached KML}}
{{NYSR external links|type=I|nyroutes=yes|route=890|unyrds=yes}}

{{3di|90}}

[[Category:Auxiliary Interstate Highways|90-8]]
[[Category:Interstate Highways in New York (state)|90-8]]
[[Category:Interstate 90|8]]
[[Category:Transportation in Albany County, New York]]
[[Category:Transportation in Schenectady County, New York]]