Interstate 890 - History

History

The original riverside roadway along the southern bank of the Mohawk River in western Schenectady was designated as part of NY 5S in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. NY 5S entered the Schenectady area on River Road and followed River and Rice Roads and Erie Boulevard into downtown Schenectady, where it ended at NY 5. In the initial plans for the Interstate Highway System, outlined by the Bureau of Public Roads in the 1955 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 5S corridor.

The first section of I-890 to be completed was the portion from New York State Thruway exit 25 southeast of Schenectady to Altamont Avenue (NY 146), which opened to traffic as I-890 c. 1962. A short extension to Brandywine Avenue was completed by 1964. By 1968, all of I-890 west to modern exit 3 was complete and open to traffic. As planned, I-890 replaced NY 5S from downtown Schenectady to exit 3, where NY 5S now terminated. The remainder of the expressway was built c. 1974. NY 5S was cut back to I-890 exit 2 in the mid-1970s, 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 26.