Interstate 687 - History

History

The initial plans for the Capital District's portion of the Interstate Highway System were drawn up in the late 1950s. One of the highways proposed at this time was I-687, also known as the "Northway Connection". When the Adirondack Northway (I-87) was completed through Colonie in 1960, a gap was left in the Northway's exit numbering system for an interchange with I-687. The exits with NY 5 (Central Avenue) and Albany Shaker Road were designated as exits 2 and 4, respectively, leaving exit 3 for I-687. No such gap was left on the toll-free section of I-90, where the I-687 exit was numbered exit 5A.

The construction of I-687 would have forced hundreds of households from their homes, which are located off of Albany Shaker Road. By way of comparison, today's Crossing Park in Colonie would have been directly in the path of the highway. As such, the project faced opposition from residents of the town of Colonie. The construction of the road was started despite the controversy surrounding it, and the interchange with I-90 was completed c. 1972. Construction was halted soon afterward, however, as state and federal funds were diverted away from the project. I-687 and the proposed northward extension of the Crosstown Arterial (NY 85) were both cancelled by the state of New York in late September 1973, at which time the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) requested that I-687 be removed from the Interstate Highway System. The request was granted in 1977.

I-90 exit 5A, the only part of the project that was ever constructed, was left as an interchange to nowhere for roughly a decade. In the early 1980s, the large, freeway-standard trumpet interchange was linked up with Corporate Woods Boulevard, a local, two-lane street leading to an office park located just north of I-90 on Albany Shaker Road. Meanwhile, there is still no exit 3 on I-87 to this day. The New York State Department of Transportation is now in the planning stages of constructing an exit 3 that would help relieve traffic congestion at exit 4. Exit 3 will be routed either to Albany International Airport or exit 4 will be completely relocated to meet with the airport. If exit 4 is relocated, exit 3 will become an access exit to Wolf Road at Metro Drive and the airport.