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Interstate 87,
the New York State Thruway, is also known as the Major Deegan Expressway
when it runs through New York City. I-87 was opened in 1956, before the
Interstate Highway System was started.
The expressway was named for civil servant, architect, and member of the
Army Corps of Engineers, William Francis Deegan. This Expressway section
received its designation as Interstate 87 in 1958. From the New York
City line to the junction with Interstate 90 at
Albany is part of the New York
State Thruway.
North of Albany,
Interstate 87 is known as the Adirondack Northway, or simply the
Northway. The Northway section was given the esteemed designation of
America's Most Scenic Highway by Parade Magazine. An extension of the
original route to Suffern, NY is the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Built in 1955 with a 50 year life span, the Tappan Zee could be a
vehicle disaster in waiting. Not counting the Canadian border crossing,
I-87 is longest Interstate Highway that does not cross any state lines. |
Accident
on I-87
New York Thruway?
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Interstate
87 is a 333.49-mile intrastate interstate highway located entirely within the
state of New York. Its southern end intersects with Interstate 278 in New York
City's Bronx Borough and its northern end is
in Champlain, New York at the Canadian border.
Officially speaking, both the Cross Westchester Expressway and New England
Thruway are also New York State Thruways, but only the I-87 stretch running up
to Buffalo is truly the New York
State Thruway.
On October 9, 1997, a section of the New York State Thruway was closed at EXIT 5
when a gasoline truck exploded underneath a thruway overpass, killing a motorist
and destroying the overpass. Eleven days later, two temporary bridges, each
carrying two lanes of northbound and southbound traffic, were installed at the
location. This allowed traffic to move through the area while work crews
constructed a permanent overpass. This was not the first time that a structural
failure on the New York State Thruway took the lives of motorists. On the
morning of April 5, 1987, a 330-foot section of the 540-foot-long bridge
spanning Schoharie Creek near Amsterdam collapsed, taking the lives of ten
motorists. The collapse, which involved a steel-plate girder bridge covered with
steel-reinforced concrete, took over several stages over a span of ninety
minutes. Inundated with two days' worth of torrential rains, the fast-moving
Schoarie Creek, which was now 30 feet deep instead of the usual ten-foot depth,
ravaged the bridge pilings. The bridge, which was built in 1956, was
rehabilitated in 1982 and passed inspection in 1986.
On February 22nd., and September 19th., 2004 a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint
being operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, approximately 74
miles south of the Canadian Border on I-87, was the scene of two multi vehicle
rear end collisions. The forward visibility and other factors that are part of
I-87 and other Interstate Highways strategic layout and traffic flow plans were
violated by the impromptu checkpoint and appear to have been the cause of this
crash. A study by the National Transportation & Safety Board (NTSB) determined
that there are 100 interior checkpoints in the U.S. Many of them are located on
arterial highways like I-87 with free-flowing traffic. On these high-speed
highways drivers do not expect to have to come to a complete stop, and accidents
occur.
Unlike other types of roadways, high speed limited access Interstate Highways
have their own set of unique building and layout guidelines that have been
proven over the years. Statistics kept by State and Federal Government agencies
and compiled by the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS), allow
organizations like the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO) to suggest new implementations as roadway conditions and
traffic counts change annually.
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