When NY43 was first assigned in the 1920s, it began near the village of Schoharie and ended in downtown Albany. Initially, the portion of modern NY43 east of Averill Park was designated as part of New York State Route7 in 1924. It was renumbered to New York State Route45 by 1926 and became part of an extended NY43 as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. NY43 was originally routed on Broadway and Washington Avenue in Rensselaer; however, it was rerouted to use 3rd Avenue and US4 instead in the late 1960s.
In the early 1970s, the route was truncated to consist only of the portion east of the Hudson River. NY43's former routing west to Schoharie was redesignated NY443 as a result. NY43 was realigned slightly in the late 1990s to serve the new exit8 on I-90. Its former routing into Rensselaer on 3rd Avenue is now partly NY151 and unsigned NY915E.
Route description
View east along NY 43 in West Sand Lake
NY43 begins at an interchange with I-90 (exit8) in the town of North Greenbush in western Rensselaer County. The route heads northeastward as a four-lane freeway through a small forest separating NY43 from a pair of residential neighborhoods. NY43 provides access to these neighborhoods at an intersection with Washington Avenue, where it becomes a four-lane surface road. Past this junction, the highway turns eastward to meet US4 in the hamlet of Defreestville. NY43 narrows to two lanes roughly 0.25 miles (0.40km) east of US4 and continues eastward through a densely populated area of North Greenbush.[4]
View east along NY 43 in Averill Park
East of Lape Road (County Route66 or CR66), the amount of development along NY43 begins to decline and give way to small, open fields located amongst forested areas. However, as NY43 enters the town of Sand Lake, the number of homes and businesses on the highway rises once more. The level of development reaches its greatest point in West Sand Lake, a community centered around NY43's junction with NY150. NY43 continues on, passing through residential areas of Sand Lake as it intersects NY351 and heads eastward to Averill Park. The route meets NY66 east of the community, and the two routes overlap for 3 miles (5km) southeastward along the eastern shores of the small Glass and Crooked Lakes. NY43 and NY66 split just after crossing into the town of Nassau near the southern edge of Crooked Lake.[4]
NY43 heads southeastward from NY66, passing through mostly rural, forested areas as it proceeds toward the Massachusetts state line. Most of the development along the final stretch of the route is concentrated in the small communities along the route. It passes through Dunham Hollow and enters the town of Stephentown as it serves the hamlet of West Stephentown. NY43 continues through forested areas of Stephentown to Stephentown Center, denoted by a cluster of homes near the intersection of NY43 and Newton Road.[4]
From Stephentown Center, the route heads southeast to the community of Stephentown situated 2 miles (3.2km) west of the state line. NY43 serves as the main commercial strip through the hamlet, which is the largest location on the route since Averill Park. Here, NY43 intersects NY22 at a junction that features sharp corners for commuters turning onto NY43 from NY22. Past NY22, NY43 heads southeast through mostly open fields and lightly populated areas to the Massachusetts state line, where the roadway becomes Route43 upon crossing into Hancock, Massachusetts.[4]
History
Origins and designation
Late 1940s map of NY43's former routing west of Albany
When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924, a highway connecting Route21 in Averill Park to the Massachusetts state line at Stephentown was designated as part of NY7, a route that continued northwest from Averill Park to Troy on modern NY66.[2] By 1926, the portion of old legislative Route7 from Central Bridge to East Berne was designated as part of NY43, a new route extending from Central Bridge to downtown Albany via East Berne, Clarksville, and Delmar,[3] while NY7 was renumbered to NY45.[7]
Changes in routing
In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY43 was truncated slightly on its western end to begin at a junction with the new NY30 north of Schoharie. Meanwhile, NY45 was reassigned to another highway in Orange County. The portion of former NY45 from Troy to Averill Park became part of NY66 while the remainder became an eastward extension of NY43. The extended NY43 was now concurrent with US9 and US20 along Madison Avenue from Delaware Avenue to Rensselaer, where it followed Broadway and Washington Avenue to US4 in Defreestville. The route continued east to Averill Park on what had been legislative Route21.[8][9]
Approaching US4 on NY43 eastbound in North Greenbush
NY43 was extended slightly following the construction of a new alignment for NY30 near Central Bridge in the early 1940s. NY30 now left its old alignment southeast of Central Bridge and bypassed the community to the east.[10][11] The former routing of NY30 into Central Bridge became an extension of NY43, which overlapped NY30 between the new alignment and Schoharie.[12] When NY30A replaced NY148 in 1960, the short piece of NY43 near Central Bridge became part of NY30A and NY43 was truncated back to NY30 near Schoharie.[13][14] In the late 1960s, NY43 was rerouted through downtown Rensselaer to follow 3rd Avenue (previously NY381) east to US4. From there, NY43 overlapped US4 northward to Defreestville, where it rejoined its previous alignment.[15][16]
NY43 was truncated on its western end to the junction of 3rd Avenue and Broadway in downtown Rensselaer in the early 1970s, eliminating the overlap with US9 and US20 through Albany. Its former routing from Schoharie to Albany was renumbered to NY443.[16][17] NY43 remained on 3rd Avenue up to the late 1990s when it was rerouted to follow a new highway to I-90 exit8 west of Defreestville. The realignment eliminated the overlap with US4 and also took NY43 outside of the Rensselaer city limits for the first time since being extended across the Hudson River in 1930.[18][19] The former alignment of NY43 along 3rd Avenue from Broadway to Barracks Road became part of NY151;[19] the remainder was designated NY915E, an unsigned reference route.[20]
↑New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1940.
↑New York with Pictorial Guide (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1942.
↑New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region (Map) (1955–56ed.). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1954.
↑New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region (Map) (1958ed.). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1958.
↑New York and New Jersey Tourgide Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. Gulf Oil Company. 1960.
↑New York (Map) (1969–70ed.). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1968.
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