Interstate 84 in New York
Encyclopedia
Interstate 84 is a part of the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...

 that runs from Dunmore, Pennsylvania
Dunmore, Pennsylvania
Dunmore is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, adjoining Scranton. Dunmore was settled in 1835 and incorporated in 1862. Extensive anthracite coal, brick, stone, and silk interests had led to a rapid increase in the population to 8,315 in 1890, 12,583 in 1900, 17,615 in 1910, 20,250 in...

, to Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques.The population was 9,268 at the 2010 census...

, in the Eastern United States
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...

. In New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, I-84 extends 72.39 miles (116.5 km) from the Pennsylvania state line at Port Jervis
Port Jervis, New York
Port Jervis is a city on the Delaware River in western Orange County, New York, with a population of 8,860 at the 2000 census. The communities of Deerpark, Huguenot, Sparrowbush, and Greenville are adjacent to Port Jervis, and the towns of Montague, New Jersey and Matamoras, Pennsylvania face the...

 to the Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 state line east of Brewster
Brewster, New York
Brewster is a village within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York, United States. Its population was 2,162 at the 2000 census. The village is the most densely populated portion of the town...

. As it heads east–west across the central Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...

, it goes over two mountain ranges and crosses the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

 at the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
The Newburgh–Beacon Bridge, is a cantilever toll bridge that spans the Hudson River in New York State carrying NY 52 and Interstate 84 between Newburgh and Beacon...

.

It is the only limited-access road
Limited-access road
A limited-access road known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway , including limited or no access to adjacent...

 to cross New York from west to east between New York City and the Capital District
Capital District
New York's Capital District, also known as the Capital Region, is a region in upstate New York that generally refers to the four counties surrounding Albany, the capital of the state: Albany County, Schenectady County, Rensselaer County, and Saratoga County...

. As such it is the main vehicular route between Southern New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and points west. It is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation
New York State Department of Transportation
The New York State Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S...

 (NYSDOT), which recently resumed full control after two decades in which routine maintenance was performed by the New York State Thruway Authority under yearly contract from DOT. The New York State Bridge Authority
New York State Bridge Authority
The New York State Bridge Authority is a public benefit corporation in New York State, United States. The NYSBA was born out of the necessity for a bridge over the Hudson River to link the city of Hudson and the village of Catskill.-History:...

 charges eastbound traffic a $1 toll to maintain the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.

Construction of the highway began later than other interstates in New York as legal hurdles to the construction of the bridge had to be removed, and federal funding was more limited when it finally began in 1960. It was completed 12 years later, becoming a major commercial artery and mainstay of the Hudson Valley economy and offering travelers a view of some of the state's scenic areas in the Shawangunks
Shawangunk Ridge
The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains.The ridgetop, which widens considerably at...

 and Hudson Highlands
Hudson Highlands
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York, between Newburgh Bay and Haverstraw Bay, which form the northern region of the New York - New Jersey Highlands....

.

Route description

I-84 passes through three counties. The entire stretch between the Delaware and Hudson, more than half the road's total length in New York, is in Orange County
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...

. East of the river the road begins in Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...

 and then drops southward into Putnam County
Putnam County, New York
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley. Putnam county formed in 1812, when it detached from Dutchess County. , the population was 99,710. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of Carmel...

.

Two other highways parallel the interstate for some length. US 6
U.S. Route 6 in New York
U.S. Route 6 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Bishop, California, to Provincetown, Massachusetts. In New York, US 6 extends from the Pennsylvania state line at Port Jervis to the Connecticut state line east of Brewster...

 follows it closely near the state lines, but takes a southerly course between those two areas. NY 52
New York State Route 52
New York State Route 52 is a long state highway in the southeastern part of New York in the United States. It generally runs from west to east, beginning at the Pennsylvania state line in the Delaware River near Narrowsburg, crossing the Hudson River on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and ending...

 joins I-84 from Newburgh to Fishkill and remains parallel from there to Lake Carmel
Lake Carmel (New York)
Lake Carmel is located in the Town of Kent, New York, United States. It takes its name from nearby Carmel, and in turn the community surrounding the lake, which accounts for much of Kent's population, is named for it....

.

West of Hudson (Orange County)

Interstate 84 enters New York via a long bridge that crosses both the Delaware
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...

 and Neversink
Neversink River
The Neversink River is a tributary of the Delaware River in southeastern New York in the United States...

 rivers just above their confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

. Fifty feet (15 m) south of the road is Tristate Rock, where New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, New York and Pennsylvania converge. For its first mile in New York, the interstate is immediately north of the New Jersey state line in the city of Port Jervis
Port Jervis, New York
Port Jervis is a city on the Delaware River in western Orange County, New York, with a population of 8,860 at the 2000 census. The communities of Deerpark, Huguenot, Sparrowbush, and Greenville are adjacent to Port Jervis, and the towns of Montague, New Jersey and Matamoras, Pennsylvania face the...

. The first exit is signed for US 6 and NJ 23, which begins just south of the exit with many gas stations allowing motorists to take advantage of lower fuel taxes
Fuel taxes in the United States
The United States federal excise tax on gasoline, as of February 2011, is 18.4¢/gal and 24.4¢/gal for diesel fuel. In January 2011, motor gasoline taxes averaged 48.1¢/gal and diesel fuel taxes averaged 53.1¢/gal, which accounted for 14% of the price of gasoline and 15% of the price of diesel.As...

 in New Jersey.

Route 6 remains parallel to the north of the freeway as I-84 begins an immediate climb away from the state line up the Shawangunk Ridge
Shawangunk Ridge
The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains.The ridgetop, which widens considerably at...

, beginning an east-northeast slant in its direction that will continue for almost 30 miles (48 km). The roadway crests at 1275 feet (388.6 m), its highest elevation in New York. Scenic overlooks on either side allow travelers to stop and take in the expansive view of Port Jervis, the lower Neversink valley and adjacent regions of Pennsylvania. On the descent, Route 6 crosses under the interstate again, reachable by a short drive south on Mountain Road at exit 2.

East of the Shawangunks it is 13 miles (21 km) to the next exit. The freeway winds through swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

s from which the obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

 atop High Point, New Jersey's highest mountain, is visible. These give way to wooded areas eventually broken by fields in the Town of Wawayanda
Wawayanda, New York
Wawayanda is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,024 as recorded by the 2006 census.The Town of Wawayanda is in the western part of the county, south of Middletown.-History:...

 where Route 6 crosses over again to merge with NY 17M
New York State Route 17M
New York State Route 17M is an east–west state highway in Orange County, New York, in the United States. It extends for from west of the city of Middletown to what is currently the north–south section of NY 17 just southeast of the village of Harriman...

 and recross at exit 3, the first of two that serve the city of Middletown
Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census...

. A mile and a half (2.4 km) further east along that roadway is the Middletown rest area, with restrooms and a state police substation. The other Middletown exit serves NY 17
New York State Route 17
New York State Route 17 is a state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States...

, the long freeway slowly being transformed into Interstate 86
Interstate 86 (east)
Interstate 86 is an Interstate Highway that extends for through northwestern Pennsylvania and southern New York in the United States...

, another mile further to the east.
This junction is the western corner of Orange County's "Golden Triangle" of interstates, so named for its attractiveness to businesses for their distribution
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...

 centers. Immediately afterward I-84 passes between the Galleria at Crystal Run
Galleria at Crystal Run
The Galleria at Crystal Run is a shopping mall in Wallkill, New York and is the second largest mall in New York's Hudson Valley region. The mall, which opened in 1992, has an area of 1,100,000 square feet with two floors and 250 shops and restaurants as well as a 16-screen AMC Theatres .The mall...

, the county's largest mall, and the eponymous office park to the south. More farms begin to break up the landscape off the road. Westbound traffic is served by the Wallkill
Wallkill, Orange County, New York
Wallkill is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 24,659 at the 2000 census.The Town of Wallkill is centrally located in the county. Interstate 84 crosses New York State Route 17 in the southern part of the town. U.S...

 rest area four miles (6 km) east of Route 17. The tracks of Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...

's Port Jervis Line runs just north of the highway for a short distance, and NY 211
New York State Route 211
New York State Route 211 is a state highway located entirely within Orange County, New York, in the United States. The western terminus is at the intersection with US 209 located in Cuddebackville, and the eastern terminus is located at Montgomery at NY 17K, where it becomes the...

 also parallels for several miles past the hills of Highland Lakes State Park
Highland Lakes State Park
Highland Lakes State Park is a state park in the State of New York, USA. The park is located in Orange County north of New York City.The park is west of Middletown on Route 211.The park offers hiking, fishing and a bridle path...

.

After crossing the Wallkill River
Wallkill River
The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly to Rondout Creek in New York, near Rosendale, with the combined flows reaching the Hudson at Kingston....

 and NY 416
New York State Route 416
New York State Route 416 is a state highway located entirely within the towns of Hamptonburgh and Montgomery in Orange County, New York, in the United States. It does not intersect any other state routes besides those at its termini, nor pass through any settlements...

, I-84 climbs slightly to its first exit in almost 10 miles (16 km), NY 208
New York State Route 208
New York State Route 208 is a state highway located in southern New York in the United States. The southern terminus is at an intersection with NY 17M in the Orange County village of Monroe...

, serving nearby Walden
Walden, New York
Walden is the largest of three villages of the Town of Montgomery in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 6,978 at the 2010 census. It has the ZIP Code 12586 and the 778 telephone exchange within the 845 area code...

 and Maybrook
Maybrook, New York
Maybrook is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,084 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined...

. Heavy truck traffic at this exit reflects a nearby truck stop
Truck stop
A truck stop is a commercial facility predicated on providing fuel, parking, and often food and other services to motorists and truck drivers...

, Yellow Freight's large presence in Maybrook and a Staples warehouse north of the interstate along 208. The highway continues, now almost due east, of this exit through more wooded area, forming the northern border of Stewart State Forest, for four miles (6.4 km) to the recently built exit with NY 747
New York State Route 747
New York State Route 747 is a state highway in northeast Orange County, New York, in the United States. The route extends for about from NY 207 in the town of New Windsor to NY 17K in the town of Montgomery. It officially came into existence when exit 5A on Interstate 84...

 intended to improve access to nearby Stewart International Airport
Stewart International Airport
Stewart International Airport is located in the southern Hudson Valley, west of Newburgh, New York and over north of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The airport is located in the Town of Newburgh and the Town of New Windsor."." U.S. Census Bureau...

.

A mile beyond, the road reaches the first of four exits serving Newburgh
Newburgh (city), New York
Newburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, United States, north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. Newburgh is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties. The Newburgh area was...

, the largest community along it in New York. It veers slightly to the north again after the interchange with NY 17K
New York State Route 17K
New York State Route 17K is an east–west state highway located within Orange County, New York, in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with County Route 76 east of Bloomingburg to a junction with U.S. Route 9W midway across the city of Newburgh...

, which has been running parallel to the north since Route 208. Another truck stop is located off this exit, with a major FedEx
FedEx
FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...

 and the U.S. Postal Service's Mid-Hudson General Mail Facility
Sectional center facility (SCF)
A Destination Sectional Center Facility is a Processing and Distribution Center of the United States Postal Service that serves a designated geographical area defined by one or more three-digit ZIP Code prefixes....

 in the industrial park
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...

 between the interstate and the airport.

The freeway resumes its eastern heading again and descends a gentle slope to its junction with the New York State Thruway
New York State Thruway
The New York State Thruway is a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States. The system, known officially as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway for former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority and...

 (Interstate 87) and NY 300
New York State Route 300
New York State Route 300 is a state highway located west of the city of Newburgh in the Hudson Valley of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at a five-way intersection with NY 32 and NY 94 in the hamlet of Vails Gate...

. Traffic was routed to the Thruway via a short section of 300 when the interstate was built, but a major project to build a connector directly to the toll road was completed in December 2009, after being under construction for five years.

After passing though a rock cut, I-84 levels off and begins following the northern border of the city of Newburgh, where first NY 52
New York State Route 52
New York State Route 52 is a long state highway in the southeastern part of New York in the United States. It generally runs from west to east, beginning at the Pennsylvania state line in the Delaware River near Narrowsburg, crossing the Hudson River on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and ending...

 joins it, beginning the only concurrency
Concurrency (road)
A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 with the interstate in the state. A mile and a half (2 km) east, US 9W
U.S. Route 9W
U.S. Route 9W is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins on Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey as it crosses the US 1 & 9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 approaches to the George Washington Bridge, where it heads north up the west...

 and NY 32
New York State Route 32
New York State Route 32 is a north–south state highway that extends for through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with few divided and no limited-access sections. From Harriman to Albany,...

 provide the last exit before the road crosses the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
The Newburgh–Beacon Bridge, is a cantilever toll bridge that spans the Hudson River in New York State carrying NY 52 and Interstate 84 between Newburgh and Beacon...

, with views of Newburgh Bay
Newburgh Bay
Newburgh Bay is in the Hudson River approximately 60 miles north of New York City, just upriver from the Hudson Highlands. It takes its name from Newburgh, for many years the major port on this section of the river....

 and the Hudson Highlands
Hudson Highlands
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York, between Newburgh Bay and Haverstraw Bay, which form the northern region of the New York - New Jersey Highlands....

 to the south.

East of Hudson (Dutchess and Putnam counties)

The bridge also crosses Metro-North's Hudson Line
Hudson Line (Metro-North)
Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line is a commuter rail line running north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River. Metro-North service ends at Poughkeepsie, with Amtrak's Empire Corridor trains continuing north to and beyond Albany...

 tracks on the east side of the river. The NY 9D
New York State Route 9D
New York State Route 9D , also known as the Bear Mountain – Beacon Highway, is a north–south state highway that runs along the eastern shore of the Hudson River in New York in the United States. It starts at the eastern end of the Bear Mountain Bridge at U.S...

 exit after the toll plaza is the first of two serving the city of Beacon
Beacon, New York
Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2010 census placed the city total population at 15,541. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport,...

, just to the south of the freeway. It then curves slightly to the north, passing Dutchess Stadium
Dutchess Stadium
Dutchess Stadium is a stadium in Fishkill, New York. It opened in 1994 and holds 4,500 people. It is located on New York State Route 9D.It is primarily used for baseball, as the home field of the Hudson Valley Renegades minor league baseball team. The Renegades are the rookie-level team of the...

, home of the Hudson Valley Renegades
Hudson Valley Renegades
The Hudson Valley Renegades are a minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Tampa Bay Rays. The team is a member of the New York - Penn League, a Class A Short Season league. The Renegades play at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, NY....

, to the north and then the large open area between Downstate
Downstate Correctional Facility
Downstate Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison in the Hudson Valley region of New York.Downstate is a maximum-security prison located along the north side of Interstate 84 in Fishkill, New York. Downstate serves primarily as a classification center, as it the first stop for all new...

 and Fishkill
Fishkill Correctional Facility
Fishkill Correctional Facility is a medium security prison in New York, USA. The prison is located in both the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County.Fishkill was constructed in 1896...

 state prisons, where signs warn motorists not to stop. To the south a panoramic view from Beacon
Beacon Mountain
Beacon Mountain, sometimes Mount Beacon, is the highest peak of the Hudson Highlands, located behind the City of Beacon, New York, in the Town of Fishkill. Its two summits rise above the Hudson River behind the city and can easily be seen from Newburgh across the river and many other places in the...

 to Schunemunk
Schunemunk Mountain
Schunemunk Mountain is the highest mountain in Orange County, New York. The 1,664-foot summit is located in the town of Blooming Grove, with other portions in Cornwall and Woodbury. The community of Mountain Lodge Park is built up its western slope.The mountain is a popular recreational resource...

 mountains is available.
The road resumes its eastern heading and descends slightly to the next exit, where Route 52 leaves the freeway for the village of Fishkill. I-84 bends through the lowlands north of Sour Mountain, northern end of the Hudson Highlands, and crosses Fishkill Creek
Fishkill Creek
Fishkill Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At it is the second longest stream in the county, after Wappinger Creek. It rises in the town of Union Vale and flows generally southwest to a small estuary on the Hudson just south of Beacon. Part of...

. Just north of the historic Van Wyck Homestead
Van Wyck Homestead
The Van Wyck Homestead or Van Wyck-Wharton House [is an early 18th-century Dutch colonial house in the Town of Fishkill, New York, United States of America...

, and south of a large Old Navy
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...

 regional distribution center, it intersects US 9, which becomes a divided highway from north of the exit to Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...

.

It begins to climb into the hills east of this exit, passing through some rock cuts in the four miles (6 km) to the Lime Kiln Road exit, which allows easy access to a nearby former IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 facility now known as Hudson Valley Research Park. From there it descends gently over two miles (3 km), with Hosner Mountain looming to the east, to the sprawling interchange with the Taconic State Parkway
Taconic State Parkway
The Taconic State Parkway , is a divided highway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest parkway in the U.S. state of New York. It follows a generally northward route midway between the Hudson River and the Connecticut and Massachusetts state lines...

. It ascends again afterwards, passing scenic overlooks on either side that allow views of the valley and the Catskills
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...

 to the northwest. At the crest, near where the Appalachian Trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...

 crosses over, signs indicate the road has once again reached 1,000 feet (305 m) in elevation.

I-84 begins to veer to the south at this point, and soon it descends through some rock cuts to cross into Putnam County
Putnam County, New York
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley. Putnam county formed in 1812, when it detached from Dutchess County. , the population was 99,710. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of Carmel...

 just before the Ludingtonville Road exit, with NY 52 a short distance to the south. The road heads in a more south-southeast direction the next 10 miles (16 km). The NY 311
New York State Route 311
New York State Route 311 is a state highway located entirely within Putnam County, New York, United States. The highway begins at NY 52 in Lake Carmel, and intersects Interstate 84 shortly thereafter...

 exit offers the last connection to Route 52, a short distance to the south over Lake Carmel
Lake Carmel (New York)
Lake Carmel is located in the Town of Kent, New York, United States. It takes its name from nearby Carmel, and in turn the community surrounding the lake, which accounts for much of Kent's population, is named for it....

, and after crossing Metro-North's Harlem Line the interchange with NY 312
New York State Route 312
New York State Route 312 is a short but important state highway located entirely within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York in the United States...

 offers access to the large strip mall on a hill southeast of the exit and the Southeast
Southeast (Metro-North station)
Southeast is a Metro-North Railroad station serving the residents of Southeast, New York via the Harlem Line. Trains leave for New York City every hour, and about every 30 minutes during rush hour. It is the terminus of the Harlem Line electrified service. For travel farther north to Wassaic,...

 train station.
After a quarter-mile long (400 m) bridge over the Croton River
Croton River
The Croton River is a river in southern New York that begins where the East and West Branches of the Croton River meet a little way downstream from the Croton Falls Reservoir...

, US 6
U.S. Route 6 in New York
U.S. Route 6 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Bishop, California, to Provincetown, Massachusetts. In New York, US 6 extends from the Pennsylvania state line at Port Jervis to the Connecticut state line east of Brewster...

, US 202
U.S. Route 202 in New York
U.S. Route 202 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from New Castle, Delaware, to Bangor, Maine. In the U.S. state of New York, US 202 extends from the New Jersey state line near Suffern to the Connecticut state line east of Brewster. While most of US 202 is signed...

 and NY 22
New York State Route 22
New York State Route 22 is a north–south state highway in eastern New York in the United States. It runs parallel to the state's eastern edge from the outskirts of New York City to a short distance south of the Canadian border. At , it is the state's longest north–south route and...

 just north of Brewster
Brewster, New York
Brewster is a village within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York, United States. Its population was 2,162 at the 2000 census. The village is the most densely populated portion of the town...

, the interstate returns to its eastern heading for the northern terminus of Interstate 684, an exit which also provides access to the other three highways. For eastbound travelers this is the last exit in New York.

Routes 6 and 202 closely parallel I-84 to the north, between the freeway and one of the upper basins of East Branch Reservoir
East Branch Reservoir
East Branch Reservoir, formed by impounding the eponymous branch of the Croton River, is part of New York City's water supply network. It is located in the Putnam County town of Southeast, near the village of Brewster 35 miles north of the city....

, part of New York City's water supply system. The northern terminus of NY 121
New York State Route 121
New York State Route 121 is a north–south state highway in New York, going from northern Westchester County to the village of Brewster in Putnam County.-Route description:...

 lets eastbound traffic on and westbound traffic off. Two miles (3.2 km) to the east, Signs appear for Saw Mill Road, exit 1 on Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

's stretch of I-84, and its ramps leave the highway just a hundred feet (30 m) before the state line.

1950s: Proposal and design

The route of I-84 through the state began in the late 1940s, when the then-New York State Department of Public Works, now NYSDOT, was planning Governor Thomas Dewey
Thomas Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey was the 47th Governor of New York . In 1944 and 1948, he was the Republican candidate for President, but lost both times. He led the liberal faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft...

's proposed Thruway
New York State Thruway
The New York State Thruway is a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States. The system, known officially as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway for former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority and...

 system. The plan was for the Thruway's main line to cross the river between Newburgh and Beacon, an area then in the middle of a 30 miles (48 km) gap in fixed river crossings. The remainder of the expressway would be toll-free.

Politicians in the Newburgh area had also been lobbying for a bridge over Newburgh Bay
Newburgh Bay
Newburgh Bay is in the Hudson River approximately 60 miles north of New York City, just upriver from the Hudson Highlands. It takes its name from Newburgh, for many years the major port on this section of the river....

, as the ferry service
Newburgh-Beacon Ferry
The Newburgh-Beacon Ferry is a ferry service crossing the Hudson River that connects Newburgh with Beacon New York.It carries passengers between the two cities during rush hour, primarily transporting commuters from the west side of the river at Newburgh to the commuter train station on the east...

 in that section of the river was becoming financially unviable. In 1951 they were able to authorize test borings
Boring (earth)
Boring is drilling a hole, tunnel, or well in the earth.-Earth boring:Boring is used for a wide variety of applications in geology, agriculture, hydrology, civil engineering, and oil and natural gas industries...

 in the riverbed to see if a bridge was feasible. It was, but their counterparts further up the river got legislation passed that prohibited any construction of the Newburgh Bay bridge until the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge
Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge
The Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge is a continuous under-deck truss bridge that carries NY 199 across the Hudson River in New York State north of the City of Kingston and the hamlet of Rhinecliff. It was opened to traffic on February 2, 1957 as a two-lane bridge, although it was not actually...

 was completed.

By the early 1950s the road plan had changed. The Thruway had been rerouted to cross the Hudson at the present site of the Tappan Zee Bridge
Tappan Zee Bridge
The Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, usually referred to as Tappan Zee Bridge, is a cantilever bridge in New York over the Hudson River at one of its widest points; the Tappan Zee is named for an American Indian tribe from the area called "Tappan"; and zee being the Dutch word for "sea"....

. Dewey suggested that I-84 be built as a separate toll road instead. After the passage of the Federal Highway Act in 1956, during the Averill Harriman administration, state officials changed it back to a free road in order to get federal funding for the project. It remained on paper as other New York interstates got underway.

Assemblyman
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...

 Lee Mailler of Cornwall
Cornwall, New York
Cornwall is a town in Orange County, New York, USA. It is located about 50 miles north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. The estimated population in 2007 was 12,827....

, that body's majority leader
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...

, was able to get the bridge construction prohibition repealed in 1954. A bond issue
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...

 the next year made the first money available for the construction of both the Kingston and Newburgh bridges. In 1959, it looked it would be delayed again when the federal funding formula was changed and less money was available, making a four-lane bridge too expensive to construct.

1960s–70s: Construction and expansion

Construction began in 1960 after the new governor, Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...

, promised to expedite it during his campaign by building a single span, within the limits of what the state could afford without federal aid. The new plans called at first for a freeway connection for I-87 from Beacon to the Bronx and a concurrency across the river. After that project was cancelled after heavy local opposition. I-87 was routed to join I-84 at Brewster (where it would have followed the route of the current I-684). The first segment, the 16 miles (26 km) between the Thruway mainline in the Town of Newburgh
Newburgh (town), New York
Newburgh is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The 2010 census determined the population is 29,801. This is the first time ever that the population of the Town of Newburgh officially exceeded that of the adjacent but totally separate municipality known as the city of Newburgh...

 and US 9 in Fishkill, was opened November 2, 1963. The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
The Newburgh–Beacon Bridge, is a cantilever toll bridge that spans the Hudson River in New York State carrying NY 52 and Interstate 84 between Newburgh and Beacon...

 crossed nearly two miles of Newburgh Bay
Newburgh Bay
Newburgh Bay is in the Hudson River approximately 60 miles north of New York City, just upriver from the Hudson Highlands. It takes its name from Newburgh, for many years the major port on this section of the river....

 and led to the last run of the original Newburgh-Beacon Ferry the day after it opened.

The following year the eastern terminus of the new interstate was extended to the Taconic State Parkway
Taconic State Parkway
The Taconic State Parkway , is a divided highway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest parkway in the U.S. state of New York. It follows a generally northward route midway between the Hudson River and the Connecticut and Massachusetts state lines...

. The rest of the route would be slowed by both the hilly terrain and local resistance over what was felt to be inadequate eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...

 payments to affected landowners. In 1970 the road was complete to NY 311, with the former route of I-87 redesignated as I-684, and no concurrency along the interstate save the seven miles (11 km) shared with NY 52. A year later, all the mileage east of the river was open. The last segment finished was the one between NY 208 and the Thruway.
With I-84 complete soon after from Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...

 to Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, the heavy traffic created traffic jams at the bottlenecks at either end of the bridge. In 1975 a second span was approved. It was opened on November 1, 1980, almost 17 years to the day traffic first crossed the original span. Two lanes could still not handle all the traffic, and four years later, in 1984, the bridges were reconfigured to their present three-lane configuration.

Effect on western Orange County state highways

The highway's route number prompted the renumbering of several existing state routes in western Orange County, where there was already an NY 84. To avoid confusion, the NY 84 designation was eliminated and replaced with other routes in the mid-1960s. The portion south of US 6
U.S. Route 6 in New York
U.S. Route 6 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Bishop, California, to Provincetown, Massachusetts. In New York, US 6 extends from the Pennsylvania state line at Port Jervis to the Connecticut state line east of Brewster...

 at Slate Hill
Slate Hill, New York
Slate Hill is one of the eight hamlets found in the town of Wawayanda, New York. It is home to the Minisink Valley Central School District. Slate Hill is found in Orange County, New York, one of the fastest growing counties in the state...

 became NY 284
New York State Route 284
New York State Route 284 is a short state highway located entirely in Orange County in New York, United States. It is the continuation of New Jersey Route 284 northbound from the state line at Minisink to U.S. Route 6 in Wawayanda...

 while the section of NY 84 north from Middletown
Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census...

 to its northern terminus at NY 17K
New York State Route 17K
New York State Route 17K is an east–west state highway located within Orange County, New York, in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with County Route 76 east of Bloomingburg to a junction with U.S. Route 9W midway across the city of Newburgh...

 in Montgomery
Montgomery (village), New York
Montgomery is a village located in Orange County, New York, United States, 60 miles northwest of New York City, and 90 miles southwest of Albany. The population was 3,636 at the 2000 census...

 was added to NY 211
New York State Route 211
New York State Route 211 is a state highway located entirely within Orange County, New York, in the United States. The western terminus is at the intersection with US 209 located in Cuddebackville, and the eastern terminus is located at Montgomery at NY 17K, where it becomes the...

, which had previously terminated at its junction with NY 17M
New York State Route 17M
New York State Route 17M is an east–west state highway in Orange County, New York, in the United States. It extends for from west of the city of Middletown to what is currently the north–south section of NY 17 just southeast of the village of Harriman...

 and NY 84 in Middletown. The rest of NY 84 remained part of US 6 and NY 17M, which NY 84 had overlapped through Middletown. Lastly, NY 416
New York State Route 416
New York State Route 416 is a state highway located entirely within the towns of Hamptonburgh and Montgomery in Orange County, New York, in the United States. It does not intersect any other state routes besides those at its termini, nor pass through any settlements...

 was truncated to its current northern terminus just south of Montgomery rather than ending at 17K as it had before. In addition, New Jersey renumbered Route 84 to Route 284 to match New York renumbering NY 84 to NY 284.

1990s–2000s: Thruway Authority and interchange work

In 1991, with New York facing a large budget deficit, Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...

's administration decided that the state DOT would essentially sell I-84 and the Cross Westchester Expressway (I-287), to the cash-rich New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) as one way of closing it. No tolls could be charged since the roads were built with federal money, and DOT remained in charge of large capital projects, but the Thruway took over routine maintenance. During this time two interchanges were expanded and a new one created. The authority had the option of, at any time, returning the road to the state's control at a year's notice.

The first was the US 9 exit, revamped in 1999 at a cost of $25 million. I-84 was widened in both directions approaching the exit, a second overpass was added and the exit ramps were widened and signage improved. Around that time the two agencies also announced plans, and received federal funding, for a redone exit 7 that would allow traffic to go directly between I-84 and the Thruway instead of using a short stretch of NY 300
New York State Route 300
New York State Route 300 is a state highway located west of the city of Newburgh in the Hudson Valley of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at a five-way intersection with NY 32 and NY 94 in the hamlet of Vails Gate...

 which by then was more heavily developed than it had been when the interstates were first built. The three-phase construction project was initialized in May 2003 and completed in December 2009.

The new exit 7 also replaces 13 old buildings with a few new ones: a separate toll plaza to handle traffic entering the Thruway (the existing toll plaza will be dedicated to exiting traffic), offices and garages for NYSTA and the state police
New York State Police
The New York State Police is the state police force of over 4,600 sworn Troopers for the state of New York. It was established on April 11, 1917 by the New York Legislature, in response to the 1913 murder of a construction foreman named Sam Howell in Westchester County, which at that time did not...

. The new buildings will use green
Green building
Green building refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition...

 techniques to minimize energy use such daylighting
Daylighting
Daylighting is the practice of placing windows or other openings and reflective surfaces so that during the day natural light provides effective internal lighting. Particular attention is given to daylighting while designing a building when the aim is to maximize visual comfort or to reduce energy...

 and rainwater collection
Rainwater tank
A rainwater tank is a water tank used to collect and store rain water runoff, typically from rooftops via rain gutters...

. The ramps have been rerouted, using six new bridges and five new miles (8 km) of roadway, so that almost all traffic from routes 17K and 300 now use the latter route to access both interstates. The existing connector from the toll plaza to Route 17K will remain as an E-ZPass
E-ZPass
E-ZPass is an electronic toll-collection system used on most tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the northeastern US, south to Virginia and West Virginia, and west to Illinois. Currently, there are 25 agencies spread across 14 states that make up the . All member agencies use the same technology,...

–only lane from that highway to the northbound Thruway.

After lengthy litigation by environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

 groups concerned about the impact on nearby Stewart State Forest, in 2005 construction began on exit 5A. Local road Drury Lane was upgraded and widened into newly designated NY 747
New York State Route 747
New York State Route 747 is a state highway in northeast Orange County, New York, in the United States. The route extends for about from NY 207 in the town of New Windsor to NY 17K in the town of Montgomery. It officially came into existence when exit 5A on Interstate 84...

 to allow easier access to Stewart International Airport
Stewart International Airport
Stewart International Airport is located in the southern Hudson Valley, west of Newburgh, New York and over north of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The airport is located in the Town of Newburgh and the Town of New Windsor."." U.S. Census Bureau...

 via an almost-full diamond interchange
Diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge...

. It was completed in November 2007, at the same time the briefly privatized
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

 airport was turned over to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...

 with the intent of making it the New York City metropolitan area's fourth major airport.

The Thruway Authority's involvement with the road would have ended in 2006 when its board voted to transfer the highway back to the state DOT, a move it suggested did not commit it to doing so. The proceeds would have covered NYSTA's expenses in eliminating the toll barrier for a year on Interstate 190
Interstate 190 (New York)
Interstate 190 runs 28.34 miles from Interstate 90 near Buffalo, New York to Lewiston, New York via Niagara Falls. Parts of this highway were built on the former rights-of-way of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Erie Canal. It is referred to by locals as The One-Ninety...

 south of Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

.

This was seen as an election-year move to help Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 candidates in Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...

. But residents of the mid-Hudson region felt NYSTA had done a better job plowing
Snowplow
A snowplow is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes...

 the road in winter, and Thruway workers assigned to I-84 feared having to move or working for the DOT at lower pay and with different union representation.

State Senator
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...

 John Bonacic, a member of that body's then-Republican majority whose district covers western Orange County, introduced legislation at the beginning of 2007 to block the changeover. He succeeded, as the budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...

 lawmakers and new governor Elliot Spitzer agreed to appropriate
Appropriation (law)
In law and government, appropriation is the act of setting apart something for its application to a particular usage, to the exclusion of all other uses....

 enough money for DOT to continue paying the Thruway Authority for snow removal
Snow removal
Snow removal is the job of removing snow after a snowfall to make travel easier and safer. This is done by both individual households and by governments and institutions.-De-icing and anti-icing:...

, litter
Litter
Litter consists of waste products such as containers, papers, wrappers or faeces which have been disposed of without consent. Litter can also be used as a verb...

 pickup and mowing along the entire highway save the bridge. The DOT picked up the cost of having state police Troop T, which patrols the Thruway, continue to cover I-84. This agreement was renewed in 2008.

In 2010, maintenance fully reverted to DOT. With the state facing financial difficulties in the slow economy, Governor David Paterson
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...

 decided that DOT could save a few million dollars doing the work itself. In August of that year, the department bought $6 million worth of new equipment and hired 54 new employees to handle maintenance duties on the highway.

In October, Thruway insignia and signs indicating its maintenance responsibilities were removed from the roadway, and authority employees assigned to the road began transferring to jobs elsewhere, after the union waived several contract provisions to smooth the transfer. State troopers
New York State Police
The New York State Police is the state police force of over 4,600 sworn Troopers for the state of New York. It was established on April 11, 1917 by the New York Legislature, in response to the 1913 murder of a construction foreman named Sam Howell in Westchester County, which at that time did not...

 who patrolled the road were reassigned from Thruway-based Troop T to troops F and K, which cover the west and east sides of the Hudson respectively. At DOT's request, the two state police substations in Wallkill and East Fishkill remained open.

Incidents

Many traffic accidents, some fatal, have caused traffic jams and closures since I-84 was opened. One was notable for the type of vehicle involved; another led to a still-open murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 investigation.

On August 6, 1976, drivers along the road near exit 18 (NY 311
New York State Route 311
New York State Route 311 is a state highway located entirely within Putnam County, New York, United States. The highway begins at NY 52 in Lake Carmel, and intersects Interstate 84 shortly thereafter...

) in the Putnam County
Putnam County, New York
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley. Putnam county formed in 1812, when it detached from Dutchess County. , the population was 99,710. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of Carmel...

 town of Patterson
Patterson, New York
Patterson is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The town is in the northeast part of the county. Interstate 84 passes through the southwest part of the town. The population was 11,306 at the 2000 census. The town is named after early farmer Matthew Paterson...

 saw a low-flying helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 cross over the interstate and then get entangled in the power lines
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...

 passing overhead. The craft flipped over and fell onto the eastbound lanes of the highway. Both pilot and passenger were killed, and 4,000 customers in the area lost power
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...

. A traffic backup of several miles was rerouted onto the road's shoulder
Shoulder (road)
A hard shoulder, or simply shoulder, is a reserved area by the verge of a road or motorway. Generally it is kept clear of motor vehicle traffic...

 around the crash site until the road was reopened two and a half hours later. The National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...

 investigated and ruled the cause to be pilot error
Pilot error
Pilot error is a term used to describe the cause of an accident involving an airworthy aircraft where the pilot is considered to be principally or partially responsible...

.

A road rage
Road rage
Road rage is an aggressive or angry behavior by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle. Such behavior might include rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, or making threats. Road rage can lead to altercations, assaults, and collisions...

 incident on the side of the highway led to the death of Richard Aderson in 1997. Aderson, an assistant superintendent
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....

 at the Valley Central School District
Valley Central School District
The Valley Central School District serves most of the Town of Montgomery in Orange County, New York, United States, and its three villages: Maybrook, Montgomery and Walden. Students also come from adjacent areas of the towns of Newburgh, Crawford, Wallkill, Hamptonburgh, and New Windsor...

 in Montgomery, was returning to his LaGrange
LaGrange, New York
LaGrange is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 14,928 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the ancestral estate of the Marquis de Lafayette.-History:...

 home on the evening of February 5, 1997, when he had a minor collision with a relatively new green Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
The Jeep Cherokee is a unibody compact SUV. It shared the name of the original full-size SJ model, but without a body-on-frame chassis, it set the stage for the modern SUV. Its innovative appearance and sales popularity spawned important imitators as other automakers began to notice that this...

 carrying what appeared to be New Hampshire license plates
Vehicle registration plates of New Hampshire
The state of New Hampshire began requiring its citizens to register their vehicles and display license plates on their cars in 1905.-Passenger baseplates 1933 to present:-Non-passenger types:-External links:*...

 just before crossing the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. The two drivers pulled over near exit 12, and after a brief argument the other driver shot
Gunshot
A gunshot is the discharge of a firearm, producing a mechanical sound effect and a chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a gunshot wound caused by such a discharge. Multiple discharges of a firearm or firearms are referred to as gunfire. The word can connotate either the sound of a...

 Aderson and left the scene. Aderson was able to give the 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...

 operator he called on his cell phone a description of his assailant and the vehicle before dying at the scene. A police sketch
Facial composite
A facial composite is a graphical representation of an eyewitness's memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of crimes.-PhotoFIT generation:...

 based on Aderson's description has been widely circulated and is still posted prominently in kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...

s at the freeway's rest areas. The case has been dramatized on both America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...

and Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...

, generating many leads since then but remains open.

Exit list

|-
|rowspan=12|Orange
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...


|Deerpark
Deerpark, New York
Deerpark is a town in the western part of Orange County, New York. The population was 7,858 at the 2000 census. As of July 2009, population at 8,524. The center of population of New York is located in Cuddebackville, a hamlet in Deerpark.__toc__...


|0.66
|1
|
|
|-
|Greenville
Greenville, Orange County, New York
Greenville is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 4,616 at the 2010 census.The town of Greenville is located along the south county line, which is also the state line....


|4.76
|2
|Mountain Road
|
|-
|Wawayanda
Wawayanda, New York
Wawayanda is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,024 as recorded by the 2006 census.The Town of Wawayanda is in the western part of the county, south of Middletown.-History:...


|15.44
|3
|
|Signed as exits 3E (east) and 3W (west)
|-
|Wallkill
Wallkill, Orange County, New York
Wallkill is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 24,659 at the 2000 census.The Town of Wallkill is centrally located in the county. Interstate 84 crosses New York State Route 17 in the southern part of the town. U.S...


|19.10
|4
|
|Signed as exits 4E (east) and 4W (west); future I-86
|-
|Montgomery
Montgomery (town), New York
Montgomery is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 20,891 at the 2000 census. It was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 at the Battle of Quebec....


|28.78
|5
|
|
|-
|rowspan=4|Town of Newburgh
Newburgh (town), New York
Newburgh is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The 2010 census determined the population is 29,801. This is the first time ever that the population of the Town of Newburgh officially exceeded that of the adjacent but totally separate municipality known as the city of Newburgh...


|32.99
|5A
|
|Opened November 20, 2007
|-
|34.14
|6
|
|
|-
|36.54
|7A
|
|
|-
|36.54
|7B
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|City of Newburgh
Newburgh (city), New York
Newburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, United States, north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. Newburgh is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties. The Newburgh area was...


|37.44
|8
|
|West end of NY 52 overlap
|-
|39.04
|10
|
|Signed as exits 10S (US 9W south, NY 32) and 10N (US 9W north) westbound
|-
|rowspan=2 colspan=5 align="center"|Newburgh–Beacon Bridge over the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

 ($1.00 toll eastbound)
|-
|rowspan=6|Dutchess
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...


|-
|Beacon
Beacon, New York
Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2010 census placed the city total population at 15,541. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport,...


|41.49
|11
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Fishkill
Fishkill, New York
Fishkill is an upscale village within the much larger town, Town of Fishkill, one of the fastest growing towns in the region, in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The village population was 1,735 at the 2000 census...


|44.77
|12
|
|East end of NY 52 overlap
|-
|46.24
|13
|
|Signed as exits 13S (south) and 13N (north) westbound
|-
|rowspan=2|East Fishkill
East Fishkill, New York
East Fishkill is a town on the southern border of Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 25,589 at the 2000 census. The town name is derived from its formation from Fishkill, NY....


|50.44
|15
|Lime Kiln Road (CR 27)
|
|-
|52.64
|16
|
|Signed as exits 16S (south) and 16N (north)
|-
|rowspan=6|Putnam
Putnam County, New York
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley. Putnam county formed in 1812, when it detached from Dutchess County. , the population was 99,710. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of Carmel...


|Kent
Kent, New York
Kent is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 14,009 at the 2000 census. The name is that of an early settler family. The town is the north-central part of the Putnam County. Many of the lakes are reservoirs for New York City....


|58.84
|17
|Ludingtonville Road (CR 43)
|
|-
|Patterson
Patterson, New York
Patterson is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The town is in the northeast part of the county. Interstate 84 passes through the southwest part of the town. The population was 11,306 at the 2000 census. The town is named after early farmer Matthew Paterson...


|61.80
|18
|
|
|-
|rowspan=4|Southeast
Southeast, New York
Southeast is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 17,316 at the 2000 census. The town is in the southeast part of the county. Interstate 84, Interstate 684, US Route 202, and US Route 6 pass through the town.- History :...


|65.44
|19
|
|
|-
|68.30
|20S
|
|Single exit 20 from westbound
|-
|68.30
|20N
|
|Westbound exit is part of exit 20
|-
|69.26
|21
|
|Westbound exit and eastbound entrance

Exits 9 and 14

New York is one of the few remaining states that number exits sequentially rather than by mileage. Its stretch of I-84 omits exits 9 and 14, both of which were originally reserved for projects that were never built.

The state owned the land just west of the Gidney Avenue overpass, which would have been exit 9. In the 1970s the state had been forced to cancel its plans to create ALT US 9W, an expanded arterial road
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...

 through the town and city of Newburgh. Community opposition and rising land costs both played a role; the land has since been sold, ending any chance of the project being revived. The arterial was instead constructed as a boulevard along the City of Newburgh waterfront; originally named Marine Drive, it is now Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Exit 14, to have been built west of the Route 9 interchange, would have been the northern end of Interstate 487, the Hudson River Expressway project proposed along with the original routing of I-84.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK