New York Roads - I-84 WB/from Newburgh/NY 52

and from Newburgh



New York welcomes you in 1975, and Michael Summa captured the moment. The Exit 1 onramp from Connecticut is to the right, and will eventually merge in New York.


Signage along I-84 WB (coming from Boston and Connecticut). The final sign is on the ramp itself. Although I-684 actually continues a half-mile north (there's an END 684 assembly visible from the WB-SB ramp on the mainline), most SB traffic comes from I-84 WB, and I-684 NB is only signed as NY 22 from the WB offramp.
Also note the lack of directionality on all these BGS's. It's rare for NYS to tell you which direction you're heading unless there's a genuine choice (like, say, I-84 at NY 17).


All courtesy Michael Summa, all from different years - 1976, '77, and '75, respectively. See how NY 22 has since been dropped from the advance signs, and how through arrows used to be an afterthought - "Oh, there are two lanes? Throw on two arrows. Wherever."


Early even by Summa standards, he took this in 1969 before the Interstate was complete. This is looking west from Starr Ridge Rd. at Exit 20, and he remembers ALL TRAFFIC being red. Straight ahead, behind the candy-cane barricades, are low-hanging flashing signals, an innovative idea that has turned into flashing lights mounted directly on the barricades.


I'm not 100% sure of the order of these Michael Summa signs, but based on the way New York does it now (i.e. ground-mounted before overhead) I think I have it right. I'm also not sure of the year - the 1-mile and overhead Exit 16 signs were taken in 1975, but the Exit 19 sign was taken in 1977, so the others could be from either year. In fact, this is the only night photo I've seen from him, so it could be another year altogether. There's an interesting story here - the shields on the EB side say Taconic State Parkway and are barely legible, while these cut it down to Pkwy and beef up the font. That's because the freeway opened first to the west of the Taconic, meaning the EB side was signed first, meaning NYSDOT was able to learn from its mistake and correct it on the WB side. These shields still didn't do the trick, though, leading to today's all-text signs - in fact, between 1975 and 1977, at least the overhead signs had been replaced with all-text. Michael says there's yet a third type of Taconic shield that was used here, but I don't have a photo of it.


Second photo courtesy Doug Kerr (pretty sure it's gone now), and third photo courtesy Michael Summa (definitely gone now - the current standard is one arrow over each through lane); all are button copy, and Michael's photo dates to 1975.
NY 52 WB duplex


The westbound (original) side of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, which was built as part of the NY 52 freeway. I-84 was one lane in each direction until 1980, when the wider twin was opened.


The bridge seen from Water St. in Newburgh, looking north.


Now looking north from a little up the hill on Colden St.


Button copy sandwiches two curiously outlined shields; last photo courtesy Doug Kerr. End duplex.

Exit 6 photo and the last photo are courtesy Doug Kerr.


Cute, slightly wide I-84 shields adorn both mile and tenth-mile markers. It appears this specimen had an older shield on top - or no shield at all is a distinct possibility.


All courtesy Michael Summa, the first three from 1975 and the last from 1972. New York liked the 10ths back then, and it also painted its non-reflective blues to look nearly black (see fourth photo). The Exit 4 sign was the last of all of these to disappear, lasting more than 25 years.


I-84 dips very close to the NJ/PA/NY tri-point at Exit 1 (see the link at the bottom of this page), thus the NJ-spec 23 signage. In fact, the interchange is only a couple hundred feet past the border, which is Orange County 15 but signed as TO 23 and TO US 6 for the most part. Sussex should probably have an NJ tacked on, and the NY 23 shield should be burned (or donated to the actual NY 23). To burn it, click on the second photo and revisit the past, courtesy Doug Kerr.

Over to the eastbound side
Back to I-84 main page
Back to NY 52 main page


Exit 21, 3, or 1 to US 6
Exit 21 to US 202
Exit 21 to NY 121
Exit 20 to I-684
Exit 20 to NY 22
Exit 10 to US 9W
Exit 10 to NY 32
Into Newburgh
Exit 7S to I-87
Exit 6 to NY 17K
Exit 4 to NY 17
Exit 3 to NY 17M
Exit 1 to NJ 23
Continue west into Pennsylvania on I-84
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