New York Roads - NY 15

NY 15

NY 15 used to be US 15, and nowhere was that more obvious than along NY 17 and I-390, connecting the end of US 15 to the surface NY 15 near Rochester. However, the overlap with the freeways was recently removed as 17 morphed into I-86. Obsolete signage is slowly being removed by attrition.


EB photo from the former I-86/NY 15/17 multiplex that is now just I-86 alone, courtesy Doug Kerr. NY 15 SB was about to turn into US 15 and exit here, and eventually that too will be a multiplex, with I-99. The other options would be putting US 15 back on the surface road, or more likely would be truncating 15 back to Williamsport, PA where it will meet 99.


NY 15 shared I-390 for the first three exits and still runs faithfully by its side to Rochester despite having been rudely kicked off the highway. The first photo is courtesy Doug Kerr, and the signs may date to when US 15 was truncated to NY 17 in 1974, as may the Mile 16 marker in the third photo. Now the trend is bubble shields like in the second photo. You won't see these 15 shields anymore.


NY 15A NB ends at its parent with overhead signs from other states. The first set is obviously from New Jersey, what with its black background, and the second set must be from Pennsylvania where US 15 still exists. (Or possibly Virginia, where US 15 shields with white backgrounds wouldn't be surprising.)


SB at the Ford St. Bridge just south of central Rochester. It's rare to get three different sign problems together - peel, rot, and crack.


Looking north from there at the new I-490/Inner Loop Genesee River bridge.


Brand-new shields with out-of-place cutouts do not deserve to be anywhere near such great original button copy, but here they all are on the south side of Rochester. As you see on the overhead sign, the orange paint on Inner Loop shields tended to fade to white after many years, so in the last year or two Rochester decided that all of the shields would now be black on white. How dreadful.


I guess even blue can fade, though it's a much rarer occurrence. This is NB at Alexander St.


Woodbury Blvd. WB, leaving NY 31 at the northern end of NY 15 SB. Woodbury Blvd. EB is NY 31 here, but NY 31 WB left at Clinton Ave. (ending NY 15 NB). Although there's room for it, I don't think the BGS was meant for an Inner Loop shield.

NY 17/I-86 WB with now-former NY 15 NB

The original route, US 15
Exit 44 to NY 417
Onto I-390
To the Inner Loop
To I-490
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