New York State Route 7 (NY 7) is a 180-mile (290 km) state highway in New York in the United States. The highway runs from Pennsylvania Route 29 (PA 29) at the Pennsylvania state line south of Binghamton to Vermont Route 9 (VT 9) the Vermont state line east of Hoosick. Most of the road runs along the Susquehanna Valley, closely paralleling Interstate 88 (I-88) throughout that road's length. Portions of the highway route near the cities of Binghamton, Schenectady, and Troy date back to the early 19th century.

 

Route description

Binghamton area

NY 7 begins at the Pennsylvania state line south of Corbettsville, where the road connects to Pennsylvania Route 29 (PA 29). Like PA 29 to the south, NY 7 follows Snake Creek north to Corbettsville, where it meets NY 7A on the banks of the Susquehanna River. From Corbettsville northward, NY 7 becomes the riverside highway, following the river (as well as U.S. Route 11 or US 11 and I-81 on the opposite bank) through Conklin to eastern Binghamton, where it indirectly connects to US 11 via a bridge over the Susquehanna.

 

The route continues west into downtown along Conklin Avenue, then heads north on Tompkins Avenue to traverse the Susquehanna River. On the opposite bank, NY 7 intersects US 11 and becomes Brandywine Avenue. After three blocks, NY 7 merges with NY 363, a limited-access highway. While NY 363 terminates at the merge, NY 7 follows the right-of-way of NY 363 northward, connecting to the concurrent routes of I-81 and NY 17 by way of an interchange before leaving the city limits.

 

Immediately north of Binghamton in Port Dickinson, NY 7 merges with I-88 across the Chenango River from the western terminus of I-88 at I-81. NY 7 and I-88 continue to the northeast along the Chenango River through Chenango Bridge (where the routes meet NY 12A) and Port Crane (where NY 7 and I-88 meet NY 369 and leave the path of the Chenango River) before separating in Sanitaria Springs. NY 7 is signed north-south from the PA line to I-88 near Binghamton, while the remainder of the route is signed east-west.

 

Binghamton to Schenectady

From Sanitaria Springs eastward, NY 7 and I-88 follow parallel routings through Colesville to Harpursville, where NY 7 overlaps NY 79 for a short distance and intersects NY 235 outside of the community. East of NY 235, NY 7 rejoins the Susquehanna River, following the river (as well as I-88 on the opposite bank) through several riverside villages (including Bainbridge and Unadilla) to Oneonta. West of the city, NY 7 meets NY 23 and joins the route into the heart of Oneonta. Near the eastern edge of the city, NY 23 breaks from NY 7 while NY 7 continues onward in the shadow of I-88 and the Susquehanna River. To the northeast in Colliersville, the Susquehanna separates from NY 7 and is joined by NY 28 while NY 7 continues along the path of Schenevus Creek.

 

Both NY 7 and I-88 head northeast along the creek through numerous communities to Richmondville, where NY 7 meets NY 10 at an interchange with I-88 near Cobleskill Creek. NY 10 turns east onto NY 7, forming an overlap along the creek to Cobleskill before separating from NY 7 in the center of the village at an intersection with NY 145. NY 145 then overlaps NY 7 east out of the village before separating midway between Cobleskill and Schoharie near Howe Caverns. North of Schoharie, NY 7 briefly overlaps NY 30A across Schoharie Creek before intersecting NY 30 west of the Schoharie-Schenectady County line.

 

Capital District

In Duanesburg, southwest of Schenectady, NY 7 intersects US 20 and meets I-88 once more at exit 24. Both routes continue northeast along Normans Kill into western Schenectady, where I-88 meets NY 7 one final time by way of another interchange before terminating at an interchange with the New York State Thruway (I-90). NY 7, however, passes over the Thruway with no connection and heads east into Rotterdam as Duanesburg Road. In the center of the community, NY 7 turns east onto Curry Road, remaining on the roadway to an interchange with I-890 adjacent to the Schenectady Albany county line. NY 7 merges with I-890 northward for two exits (creating a wrong-way concurrency) before exiting onto the Crosstown Arterial.

 

At the end of the arterial in eastern Schenectady, NY 7 becomes the at-grade Troy–Schenectady Road as it heads along the south bank of the Mohawk River into Albany County. Shortly after entering the county and the Town of Colonie, NY 7 leaves the river and progresses southeast toward the hamlet of Latham. Soon after passing the Albany International Airport and prior to entering the center of Latham, NY 7 meets I-87 (the Adirondack Northway) at exit 6. Here, NY 7 joins the Adirondack Northway northward while Troy–Schenectady Road continues east as NY 2. At exit 7, NY 7 separates from the Adirondack Northway and continues east on a freeway known locally as "Alternate Route 7". The route connects to US 9 and I-787 / NY 787 by way of interchanges prior to crossing over the Hudson River and into Troy over the Collar City Bridge. The route remains a limited-access highway to 8th Street, where it becomes the at-grade Hoosick Street.
 

NY 7 continues east through Troy, intersecting NY 40 before exiting the city. Past Troy, the land surrounding NY 7 is largely rural as it heads through Pittstown to Hoosick, where it meets and is briefly concurrent to NY 22. Farther east, NY 7 intersects the western end of the Bennington Bypass, a limited-access highway leading to Bennington, Vermont, before crossing into Vermont and becoming Vermont Route 9.

 

History

Origins and assignment

The history of parts of Route 7 date back to shortly after the settlement of Hoosick in 1688. Hoosick was a part of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck and a public manor road was laid from Rensselaer to the site later of Troy at a ferry crossing, and then to the northeast as far as Hoosick. The section of Route 7 from Troy to Hoosick is that old manor road. The 19th century toll road known as the Troy and Schenectady Turnpike (now the Troy–Schenectady Road) chartered in 1802, connecting the cities of Troy and Schenectady.Another turnpike road, the Troy Turnpike, was established in 1831 and went east from Troy to Bennington, Vermont.[6] The road between Binghamton (at the location known as Chenango Point) through the village of Unadilla to the town of Otego was also an old turnpike road (Unadilla Turnpike) that was chartered in 1806.

 

The state took over maintenance of certain trunk line highways at the beginning of the 20th century. Most of modern NY 7 was first defined in the 1909 Highway Law (amended in 1911)[8] as State Route 7, which was designated from the Pennsylvania state line at Binghamton town to Harpursville, then along the Susquehanna Valley through Oneonta to the town of Schoharie. From there, the legislative route 7 went east via Berne and New Scotland to Albany. The portion of modern NY 7 continuing northeast to Schenectady was part of State Route 7A. The road between Troy and Schenectady was defined as part of State Route 42, while that between Troy and Hoosick was part of State Route 22.

 

In 1924, when state highways were first publicly signed, most of what is now NY 7 between Binghamton and the Vermont state line was designated as NY 9, continuing the numbering of New England Route 9 in Vermont. Within Albany, NY 9 followed the modern routing of NY 2 through Latham to Troy, where the connection to the modern alignment of NY 7 was made via current US 4. In 1927, NY 9 was redesignated as NY 7 to avoid conflict with US 9. The route north of Binghamton remained unchanged in the 1930 renumbering;[10] however, south of Binghamton, NY 7 was extended to the Pennsylvania state line, where it became PA 29.