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The Elevated Highway That Would Ruin Albany – Hoxsie!

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Nearly 35 years before the modern Dunn Memorial Bridge and Patroon Island Bridge was built, there was a proposal for a high bridge over the Hudson River that included a viaduct that would run high over Sheridan Hollow to Washington Avenue, Central Avenue, and Henry Johnson Boulevard (aka Northern Boulevard).

A road by another name still isn’t Alternate Route 7

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A road by another name still isn’t Alternate Route 7

"Alternate Route 7" in Colonie hasn't been the alternate to Route 7, since 1981. That's 33 years ago. Yet, everybody in Capital Region still calls "Alternate Route 7" that name, even if you can't find a road sign or map that labels "Alternate Route 7".

Part of it was the controversial nature of this roadway when it was built in the early 1980s -- people debated the pros and cons of "Alternate Route 7" before it was built, and the name stuck.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19780627&id=gdkwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=muAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1725,8566868

You would think map makers (and the DOT) would give up their opposition to calling it "Alternate Route 7" and adopt what everybody else calls it, "Alternate Route 7" to avoid confusion. Maybe they could put up signs that "Route 7" and "Alternate Route 7" along the same route to avoid confusion.

Changing Times for Control Cities

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Two stories about control cities -- those 'destination' cities listed on Interstate highways in the greater Albany-area.

Until about 10 years ago, it was standard practice on the Thruway to label the control city south of Albany, “N.Y. City”.

Since about 2000, the name of the control city has been changed to “New York” to be consistent with signs on Long Island and New Jersey that refer to the control city as “New York”.

The reason for calling the control city “N.Y. City” was originally to avoid confusion by out of state drivers, who might confuse the city for the state.

100_8953Generally control cities use different first letters of the alphabet to avoid confusion. Albany’s Northside Expressway, signed as I-90 is an oddity. The control cities on the Northside Expressway are “Buffalo” and “Boston”.

The reason is mostly historical – the Northside Expressway was built in 1969, almost 15 years after the Masspike and Thruway were completed. At the time, the control cities were “Boston”, “N.Y. City”, “Albany” and “Buffalo” along the Thruway and Masspike.

The Northside Expressway wasn’t even envisioned at the time and nobody foresaw the problem of having “Buffalo” and “Boston” as the control cities around Albany.