Interchange of the Week
Monday, 12 March 2001

I-86, US 15 & NY 352, Painted Post

A full-size image (540 KB) is also available.

Orientation: At center, the Cohocton River unites with the larger Tioga River to form the Chemung River. The Village of Painted Post occupies most of the left three-quarters of this photo, the village center being just over the top edge. The right quarter, north of the river, lies within the Village of Riverside. Both villages are suburbs to the City of Corning, immediately to the east.

I-86, overlapped by its predecessor, NY 17, runs from top left to top right. US 15 enters at bottom left. Although the US highway ends at I-86/NY 17, the route continues as NY 15, overlapping I-86 and NY 17 towards the left, while Hamilton Street continues straight into the village center. NY 415 follows the surface street running from top center to bottom right, called East High Street in Painted Post and Pulteney Street in Corning. NY 352 enters at bottom right on the former NY 17 alignment, then turns north onto Buffalo Street, ending at NY 415. NY 417 enters on a surface street at bottom left and ends at the interchange with US 15.

Exit numbers: Exit 44 on I-86/NY 17 eastbound is for US 15 south to Williamsport, Pennsylvania and NY 417 west to Gang Mills. Westbound, the exit also serves Painted Post via Hamilton Street. Exit 45, eastbound, is for NY 352 to downtown Corning, and westbound, for NY 415 to Riverside.

The US 15 exit to NY 417 at Gang Mills is unnumbered.

Exit 44

The interchange: The junction of I-86/NY 17 with US 15 at Painted Post is incomplete: note that the eastbound exit ramp from I-86 does not allow a left turn onto Hamilton Street for Painted Post. Prominent signs on I-86 instruct motorists to use Exit 43 (NY 415) for this purpose. Of greater interest, however, is the fact that this interchange is slated for redesign and reconstruction to improve connections for through traffic by eliminating at-grade intersections. The first southward interchange on US 15, a trumpet-style junction with NY 417, is also included in the project. Although the improvements are deemed necessary in any event, a further impetus behind the project is the likely extension of Interstate 99 from central Pennsylvania up the US 15 corridor to this point. Already, several projects are underway in Pennsylvania to upgrade US 15 to Interstate highway standards.

Of final note regarding this interchange, its original configuration was that of a traffic circle underpassed by the mainline highway, a design common in eastern Massachusetts and elsewhere. Various other designs incorporating traffic circles can be found throughout the state. For examples, visit Weeks 5, 6 and 23.
 

The interchange: The Corning Bypass on NY 17 was opened in 1995 (see it here under construction) to avoid congestion and at-grade intersections on Denison Parkway through downtown Corning. At that time, the NY 17 designation was shifted onto the bypass, joined in 1998 by the new Interstate 86 designation. Denison Parkway became a westward extension of NY 352, which follows old NY 17 between Corning and Elmira.

The new interchange between I-86/NY 17 and NY 352 provides a high-speed connection between the old and new highways: a flyover serves westbound traffic. The shining new concrete of the Corning Bypass curves directly off from the old highway at Exit 45, where a two-lane exit ramp serves downtown-bound traffic along the former NY 17.

The westbound Exit 45 is actually a separate interchange with a different function from its eastbound namesake. It consists of a half-diamond interchange with NY 415. The ramps, hard by the overpass of NY 415, branch from the mainline just north of a common overpass of the Norfolk Southern Railway.

Before the bypass was constructed, Buffalo Street was reached by a single tight ramp from NY 17 westbound. Today, the block-long street meets the old roadway at a signalized intersection. At this point, NY 352 turns from the former NY 17 onto Buffalo Street (the new I-86/NY 17 connector continues straight across) and comes to an end at NY 415. The entire block is taken up with chain restaurants and lodging places.