Interstate 87 - Definition and Overview

Interstate 87 is a 346 mile (558 km) intrastate interstate highway located entirely within the state of New York. Its southern end is at an intersection with Interstate 278 in New York City's The Bronx; its northern end is in Champlain, New York at the Canadian border, where it connects with Quebec Autoroute 15. From that point, motorists can continue northward to Montreal.

The section of highway south of its junction with Interstate 90 at Albany is part of the New York State Thruway, for which it was originally constucted in the middle 1950s. The section received its designation as Interstate 87 in 1958.

The Tappan Zee Bridge was created as an extension of the original Thruway route to Suffern, New York. It crosses the Hudson River enabling the route to New York City.

In New York City I-87 is known as the Major Deegan Expressway, which was opened in 1956 before the Interstate highway system was created. The expressway was named for William Francis Deegan, a civil servant and architect, member of the Army Corps of Engineers.

North of Albany, I-87 loses its New York Thruway designation. This region of road is known as the Adirondack Northway or just the Northway. The Northway was designated in 1967 by Parade Magazine as America’s Most Scenic Highway.

Major Cities Along the Route

• New York City, New York
• Yonkers, New York
• Albany, New York
• Plattsburgh, New York

Intersections with other Interstates

• Interstate 95 in New York City, New York
• Eastern Interstate 84 in Newburgh, New York
• Interstate 90 in Albany, New York

Spur Routes

• Tarrytown, New York - I-287
• Suffern, New York - I-287
• Kingston, New York - I-587
• Albany, New York - I-787

Notes

I-287 connects with its parent in a 15-mile (24 km) long multiplex in the middle of the highway. It is a partial beltway around New York City. West of the multiplex, it loops around New York to meet the New Jersey Turnpike in Middlesex County, New Jersey; the northern sections of this part near the New York state line have nice mountain scenery. East of the multiplex, I-287 continues as the Cross Westchester Expressway to end at I-95 (the New England Thruway) in Rye, New York, near the Connecticut border. Note that I-287 leaves New York state, while its parent does not.

Intersections of I-287 with other interstates:

• Interstate 78 and Interstate 80 in New Jersey
• Interstate 87 - multiplex from Suffern, New York to Tarrytown, New York
• Interstate 684 in White Plains, New York

I-587 has no exits at all, and is less than 2 miles (3.2 km) long. It's kind of odd, going from a traffic circle to a traffic light.

I-687 was planned as a bypass around Albany, but it was never built. In fact, an interchange that accesses another road to I-90 would've connected I-90 to I-687.

I-87 could be rerouted to the Garden State Parkway, and follow it into New Jersey and all the way down the Atlantic shoreline into Cape May, but the Garden State Parkway is currently not usable by trucks. Additionally, the current I-87 extension that leads into Yonkers and the Bronx could be renamed I-487, because it connects to another Interstate in that New York borough.

I-87 and its Autoroute 15 successor provide a very popular New York-to-Montreal route because of the breathtaking scenery.

External links

• The Major Deegan at NYC Roads (http://www.nycroads.com/roads/major-deegan/)
• Straight Dope on Major Deegan (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdeegan.html)