New York State Route85 (NY85) is a state highway in Albany County, New York, in the United States. It is 26.49 miles (42.63km) in length and runs from CR353 in Rensselaerville to Interstate90 (I-90) exit4 in Albany. It also has a loop route, NY85A, which connects NY85 to the village of Voorheesville. The portion of NY85 north of NY140 to the Bethlehem–Albany town/city line is known as the Slingerlands Bypass. From there north to I-90, the road is a four-lane freeway named the Crosstown Arterial.
Route description
NY85 at the Ten Mile Creek Bridge in Rensselaerville, approaching its western terminus
NY85 begins at the north end of the County Route353 (CR353; Delaware Turnpike) bridge over the Ten Mile Creek in the hamlet of Rensselaerville. In the center of the hamlet, NY85 turns north at the intersection with CR351 (Medusa Road), NY85 proceeds northward along Delaware Turnpike, a two-lane residential street through the town of Rensselaerville. The route soon becomes a woods road, turning east and passing the southern terminus of CR6. NY85 bends northeast through Rensselaerville, crossing through valleys until Stevens Road, where it bends southeast and soon east into the town of Westerlo. Still known as Delaware Turnpike, NY85 continues east through the valleys past a junction with CR408.[3]
East of CR408, NY85 winds south of Onderdonk Lake, soon crossing a junction with CR1 (Switzkill Road). Bending northward through Westerlo, NY85 remains a two-lane rural road, soon reaching a junction with the western terminus of NY143. NY85 continues northeast from NY143, becoming more residential as it approaches a junction with CR14 (Joslyn School Road). Crossing into the town of Berne, NY85 meets a junction with CR11 (Cass Hill Road) west of the hamlet of Reidsville. The route then bends northward at this junction, bypassing the hamlet and soon reaching the northern terminus of CR11 (North Road) nearby.[3]
After CR11, NY85 continues northward through Berne, bending northeast into a junction with NY443 (Helderberg Trail). NY443 and NY85 become concurrent, proceeding eastward and south of Helderberg Lake as Delaware Turnpike. NY85 and NY443 continue winding eastward, crossing into the town of New Scotland, crossing through the Letter-S, a hill named for a former S-bend alignment of NY 85 that is preserved in two town roads of similar names. Climbing down the hill, the routes bend southward, reaching a junction with New Scotland Road. At this junction, NY443 continues southeast on Delaware Turnpike while NY85 turns east on New Scotland. Still a two-lane road through New Scotland, NY85 passes multiple residences before making a large curve to the north.[3]
NY85 at NY443 in New Scotland
The route bends northeast and enters the area of New Salem Hill, where it intersects with the eastern terminus of NY157 (Thacher Park Road). Continuing north, NY85 soon bends southeast and enters the hamlet of New Salem, where it intersects with the western terminus of NY85A (New Salem Road). Through New Salem, NY85 is a two-lane residential street, soon leaving the hamlet after Mountain View Estates Road. Running northeast through New Scotland, NY85 remains a two-lane residential street, crossing under CSX railroad tracks before reaching the hamlet of New Scotland. The route runs northeast through the hamlet, becoming a two-lane residential/commercial street and intersects with CR308 (New Scotland South Road).[3]
NY85 quickly crosses the eastern terminus of NY85A (Maple Road), bending southeast through New Scotland. Leaving the namesake hamlet, NY85 continues southeast until reaching the town of Bethlehem. Through Bethlehem, NY85 reaches the hamlet of Slingerlands, becoming a two-lane residential street and crossing the eastern terminus of CR306 (Font Grove Road). Passing a junction with Kenwood Avenue, NY85 crosses through the commercial center of Slingerlands, soon turning northeast into another residential portion of Slingerlands. Near the northern end of the hamlet, the route enters a roundabout with NY140 (Cherry Avenue Extension) and New Scotland Road (former NY910E).[3]
NY85 turns northwest at the roundabout, bending into another one with Vista Boulevard. Continuing northeast, NY85 reaches a third roundabout with Maher Road (former NY915L), which connects to New Scotland Road and the hamlet of Karlsfeld. After crossing another roundabout, this time with Blessing Road, NY85 becomes a two-lane freeway and crosses through the Normanskill section of Bethlehem, crossing over the New York State Thruway (I-87). Just after the overpass, NY85 widens from a two-lane freeway to a four-lane freeway, crossing into the city of Albany and passing a ramp for Krumkill Road. Crossing over Buckingham Road, NY85 interchanges with the local street, soon reaching an interchange with Cortland Street, which connects to US20 (Western Avenue).[3]
View of the tollgate in Slingerlands. It was demolished in 1908.
The path of modern NY85 west of Slingerlands roughly follows that of the Albany, Rensselaerville, and Schoharie Plank Road, a plank road established to connect the city of Albany with the town of Schoharie by way of passing through Rensselaerville. The Albany, Schoharie, and Rensselaerville Plank Road Company was organized on October10, 1849, with Lansing Pruyn as president.[4] On March25, 1850, the company was given a 30-year charter; and the road from Lydius Street in Albany (today Madison Avenue) to the hamlet of New Salem—now New Scotland Avenue in the city of Albany and New Scotland Road in Bethlehem and New Scotland—and the portion of the road from Bernville to Gallupville were planked with wooden boards.[5] Portions of the plank road were already long established roads, such as the Beaverdam (or Beaver Dam) Road in western Albany County near New Salem, which had already existed for quite some time prior to moving to an easier grade around New Salem in 1806.[6] The plank road/turnpike spurred the development of many places along its path, such as a hotel at what would evolve into the hamlet of Hurstville and a post office at what would become the hamlet of Slingerlands.[5][7]
In 1854 the state authorized the fiscally unsound plank road company to abandon or sell portions of the road and to turn other sections into a turnpike and charge tolls. The section from New Salem east to the hamlet of New Scotland subsequently had its planks removed and the portion from Bernville to Gallupville was also abandoned.[5][8] In 1881 the charter was renewed for another 30 years.[5] In 1896 the turnpike company opposed the construction of a railroad that would have been in direct competition to the turnpike from Albany to Schoharie.[9]
Designation
In 1908, the New York State Legislature created Route7, an unsigned legislative route extending from Binghamton to Albany via Oneonta and Schoharie. Route7 entered the town of New Scotland on what is now NY157 and followed it to its eastern end at modern NY85. At this point, the route turned onto the old Albany–Schoharie plank road and continued east to Albany on New Scotland Road and New Scotland Avenue.[10][11] The section of legislative Route7 east of modern NY157 was not assigned a posted designation until the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York when it became part of NY85, which initially extended from NY81 in the hamlet of Oak Hill in the town of Durham to US20 in Albany.[2]
When it was first assigned, the route followed Makley and Siebert Roads north from Oak Hill to Medusa, then continued northeast to Westerlo on CR351, CR402, CR404, and CR401. Past Westerlo, NY85 was routed on what is now NY143 to the Delaware Turnpike near Reidsville, where it joined its current alignment. Northeast of Slingerlands, NY85 followed New Scotland Avenue into downtown Albany, where it terminated at US20.[2] The portion of the route between Medusa and Reidsville was realigned c.1936 to serve the hamlet of Rensselaerville. Instead of heading east from Medusa, NY85 was rerouted to follow CR352, CR360, CR359, and CR353 north to Rensselaerville, where it met its modern routing.[12][13] NY85 was truncated to Rensselaerville c.1938.[14][15]
Construction on the Slingerlands Bypass, a new highway bypassing the hamlet of Slingerlands, began in the early 1960s. The first section of the bypass from Washington Avenue to Buckingham Drive (the Krumkill Road exit) was completed by 1964.[16][17] The remainder of the highway was open by 1968 as a realignment of NY85.[18] Between Blessing Road and the Albany city line, the bypass was constructed as a two-lane highway. This section was originally planned to be four lanes wide as well, but was constructed with only two lanes due to community activism by an anti-sprawl group known as the Bethlehem Lincoln Republicans in the early 1960s.[citation needed] The old alignment of NY85 along New Scotland Road from where NY85 turns onto the bypass to the Albany city line (a distance of 0.38 miles or 0.61 kilometres as of 2008) was designated as NY910E, an unsigned reference route.[1]
A four-lane extension of the bypass was constructed in 2007 between NY140 and Maher Road.[citation needed] Four roundabouts were built, the southernmost where NY85 currently meets NY140 at Cherry Avenue Extension.[citation needed] After the roadway opened to traffic on November7, 2007, NY85 was rerouted onto the newly constructed portion of the bypass while the section of New Scotland Road between NY140 and Maher Road became part of an extended NY910E.[citation needed] The new highway, four lanes divided, meets the existing highway portion of the bypass at the same Maher Road (NY915L), at the third roundabout.[citation needed] Between 2017 and 2018, NY910E and NY915L were decommissioned.[19][20]
NY85 was once proposed to be extended to the unbuilt I-687.[21]
123Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1930–31 and 1931–32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930–31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the 1930 renumbering
