New York Roads - NY 443 and 85/443



Photos progress westward, and we start in Albany:


Delaware Ave., US 9W NB/NY 443 EB, at first Hurlbut Ave. and then at Morton Ave. NY 443 ends silently multiplexed with US 9W at US 20, where Delaware Ave. ends. 9W gets a brief stay of execution on up to its parent, US 9.
Before we get out of Albany, take a look at the old Delaware Avenue bridge.


To whet your appetite, I start on Normanskill Drive SB in Albany, the old northern approach to the old bridge. The bridge in the third photo is unrelated to the old highway here - it was transplanted to allow access to the New York State Police K-9 traning unit.


A better look at the arch bridge.


Passing the end of the old Delaware Ave. bridge, and taking a side view of the arches. There wasn't much room to park on this side, but that was okay because I'd started on the south side first. (In other words, these near-dusk photos won't transition to fuzzy grayness.) To the right from the first of these two photos is Mill Rd., which leads to the original ferry across the Normans Kill.


Underneath the current NY 443 bridge and looking back up the old road, Old Delaware Ave. in Bethlehem. The tiny neighborhood of Normansville, named for obvious reasons, is to the left from this view, southeast of the bridge.


For some reason, the original approach to the bridge has been paved with two asphalt strips, and even more strangely, those strips are brick-textured. Now, it seems there's plenty of parking on the neighborhood streets, and people have driveways, but amazingly there was someone parked on this "driveway" when I came down here! They were still there after I finished my photo shoot, drove around to the north side, and came down Normanskill Road in the photos you see above. Please explain what's so special about this stub of the old bridge that it warrants being anything more than dirt.


Looking southeast at the new bridge and some Kill scenery. Can I call it a creek before I start sounding weird?


Onto the old bridge, looking at the original yellow brick pavement and the broken concrete side walls.


Following the yellow brick bridge to Ozbany (see the fifth picture from the top).


Checking back - yup, they're still there.


Even though it hasn't been in use for many years, this bridge still has a shiny new inventory number.

Back to the current road, modern and ancient-style NYSDOT reference markers refer to NY 43, not 443. NY 43 now has been truncated to the east side of the Hudson River, but used to cross the river with US 9/US 20 and follow 20 to what's now NY 443, which is why the number still has a 43 in it.


In between those two photos is this contrast of ugly, stretched shields in the foreground and the normal one in the background. The hump should be narrower, and the bottom of the shield should be less pointy (i.e. the sides should extend farther down).


Continuing westward from Clarksville, over a short county-route duplex, then insert the first shield atop this page, then come to the longer state-route duplex, then stop at the second photo atop this page. The 85 shield is not much older than the 443 shield, but it's a heck of a lot more normal.

EB, briefly.


Lower Letter S and Upper Letter S form an old S-curve up the mountain, while the new NY 85/443 cuts right through the middle of the two. One could argue the names aren't the most imaginative, but then again, a few lucky people get to live on part of the alphabet! Lower Letter S diverges westbound in the second photo, then curves around and crosses 85/443 into the Upper Letter S. While the ROW is tree-free, Upper Letter S gets cul-de-sacked well before it comes back into the current alignment of the Delaware Turnpike.


NY 85 leaves, taking the Delaware Turnpike with it, and then come these older WB historical signs.

One more EB photo. Where did that font come from? Was someone drunk?


Canaday Hill Rd. EB in Berne has this typical Albany shield with the stencil variant of the numeral. The FHWA-font shields came out white on blue, while these were gold on a blue that doesn't fade as badly, so I'm guessing this experiment came later than the white/blue shield variety. Both types were this wide, even for single-digit signs, and that extra steel adds up.


WB across a pony truss (one not tall enough to have overhead bracing) to an unusual red historical sign. It might have been repainted, or the original color just might have been unique.


The Tory Tavern is at the end of the road at NY 30.

Onto NY 85 alone
Onto modern NY 43

Onto NY 335
Onto CR 301
To NY 157A
Into Albany County
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