U.S. Route 20 in New York - Route Description - Capital District - West of Hudson and Albany

West of Hudson and Albany

Just past the county line, another Catskills-to-Canada highway, NY 30, intersects with US 20. About 3 miles (5 km) beyond that is the northern terminus of short NY 395, which runs south to the ever-closer NY 7. US 20 veers closer to NY 7 before finally intersecting the highway 3 miles (5 km) from NY 395. Not far to the east is an interchange with I-88, NY 7's paralleling freeway between Binghamton and Schenectady. Access to I-88 is via a shared access road from both routes due to the oblique angle of the intersection. From here the highway, now known as Western Turnpike, continues to trend to the south for another 4 miles (6 km) to the southern terminus of NY 406 at the hamlet of Gifford. Shortly afterwards, US 20 enters Albany County as the Helderberg Escarpment looms to the south.

It stays straight to its first major intersection, the northern terminus of NY 397 a mile later, which is followed 2 miles (3.2 km) later by a junction with NY 158 just east of Watervliet Reservoir. After another 1.5 miles (2.4 km), CSX's main line crosses over the highway again. Development begins to pick up where NY 146 comes in from the north for a short overlap that ends at Hartmans Corners and Tawasentha Park. The road reaches the Albany suburbs two miles (3 km) to the east, where NY 155 intersects US 20 in Westmere. Just beyond the community is Crossgates Mall, a major Albany-area destination. Immediately east of the mall is US 20's first crossing of the Thruway, now I-87, since the southern Buffalo suburbs, and the southern end of Fuller Road Alternate, an extension of the Adirondack Northway, in an area known as McKownville.

A half-mile later, the busy four-lane route passes the south side of the State University of New York at Albany's highly modernistic campus. It continues into the city of Albany itself as Western Avenue. Commercial developments line both sides of US 20 to the interchange with NY 85, a truncated freeway that connects to US 20 via the adjacent Dayton and Ormond streets. The neighborhoods around the road become primarily residential at this point. Roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) from NY 85, US 20 forks right onto Madison Avenue and passes the The College of Saint Rose.

After Washington Park on the north side, downtown Albany draws nearer, with Erastus Corning Tower, the tallest building in the state outside of New York City, rising ahead. US 9W crosses Madison from Delaware Avenue to Lark Street, with its concurrent NY 443 terminating on the southern side of the intersection where Delaware ends at Madison. Shortly afterward, US 20 runs along the south side of Empire State Plaza, the modern complex that houses the offices of state legislators and many executive branch agencies. A few blocks further is South Pearl Street, also NY 32, a long route from the lower Hudson Valley to Glens Falls. US 20 follows two blocks of South Pearl Street and NY 32 to reach an interchange with the South Mall Arterial. US 20 leaves NY 32 here, following an eastern extension of the arterial to the complex interchange connecting I-787 with US 9 and US 20. US 9 joins US 20 amidst the junction, and both routes crosses the Hudson via the Dunn Memorial Bridge, the southernmost free crossing of the Hudson.