Interchange of the Week
Monday, 8 September 2003

I-87, US 9 & NY 9N, Lake George

A full-size image (444 KB) is also available.

Orientation: Interstate 87, the Adirondack Northway, runs bottom to top at left, along the west side of the Village of Lake George (the lake itself appears at right). US 9 comes in at top left and NY 9N at top right; the two join and run together through the village center. The Lake George Connector, reference route 912Q, runs from I-87 toward top right.

Exit numbers: Exit 22 from Interstate 87 is for US 9, Lake George Village. NY 9N is also involved, serving points northward along the shore of Lake George.

The interchange: Often, Interstate highways will interchange with a parallel route by means of a connector roadway. In this instance the connector serves two parallel routes: US 9 and NY 9N. The Lake George Connector is a two- to four-lane undivided roadway that meets I-87 at what might be called an "unfolded trumpet" interchange. The southbound exit ramp, which in a standard trumpet design would form a loop, instead meets the southbound entrance ramp at a direct intersection controlled by a yield sign. At this same location, on the ramps themselves, is a parking area. Notice that the parking area entrance and exit are reverse turns rather than the usual Y-shaped gore; this is so that access between the parking area and the connector roadway is preserved.

On the connector itself there is a half-interchange with US 9, east of which is a channelized T-intersection with NY 9N. This intersection favors to and from the north, since southerly points are already served by the US 9 ramps. The overall interchange connects US 9 and NY 9N with I-87 only, not with each other, since the two routes meet just south of the connector.

I-81, US 11, NY 41 & NY 281, Homer

A full-size image (156 KB) is also available.

Orientation: I-81 enters at bottom and exits at top right. US 11 and NY 41 run in common from bottom to top at center, just west of the Tioughnioga River. NY 281 is seen at top left. All three highways are joined by the connector roadway (reference route 930Q). The Village of Homer, northern neighbor to Cortland, sits to the north of this photo.

Exit numbers: Exit 12 on I-81 is for US 11, NY 41 and NY 281, Homer.

The interchange: This configuration is fundamentally the same as the Lake George example above. However, the interchange between the connector and I-81 is a standard trumpet interchange, albeit a high-speed design with elongated ramps. The connector roadway is also two to four lanes, and features an overpass of the New York, Susquehanna & Western railroad. Its intersection with NY 281 is channelized, but with a more even distribution of traffic than the Lake George example (this is because US 11 and NY 281 do not intersect, but run parallel for some distance). Furthermore, unlike at Lake George, the half-interchange with US 11/NY 41 features loop ramps in both directions, due to the proximity of the river.

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