Interstate 790 - Route Description

Route Description

I-790 begins at an interchange connecting NY 5A and NY 5S to the North–South Arterial (NY 5, NY 8, and NY 12) on the northern edge of the city of Utica. The route heads northeast from this point, overlapping with NY 5, NY 8, and NY 12 along a six-lane limited-access highway leading away from downtown. As the road leaves the NY 5A and NY 5S junction, it crosses over the CSX Transportation's Mohawk Subdivision rail line, which runs along the northern edge of the interchange. Past the tracks, the dense commercial and residential blocks that comprise downtown Utica give way to a mostly undeveloped strip of land surrounding the Mohawk River and Erie Canal. I-790 continues on a northeasterly track across the open area, crossing the Mohawk River and an abandoned railroad grade just north of the waterway.

As I-790 crosses the Erie Canal, it enters a complex interchange built around the New York State Thruway (I-90). While NY 8 and NY 12 continue north through the junction, I-790 and NY 5 exit to the southeast, leaving NY 8 and NY 12 to meet NY 49 adjacent to the Thruway. The two directions of NY 49 are physically split by the Thruway; while the eastbound direction runs along the southern edge of the Thruway, the westbound half flanks the Thruway's westbound lanes. East of the interchange, I-790 and NY 5 take over NY 49's split right-of-way, following an identical configuration for about 1 mile (1.6 km) through Utica's northern suburbs. I-790 continues east along the Thruway to the exit with northbound Genesee Street, where the Interstate Highway designation ends and the highways adjacent to the Thruway become solely designated as NY 5.

While I-790 eastbound has an exit leading directly to exit 31 of the Thruway, Utica's only exit along the highway, there is no direct connection from exit 31 to I-790 westbound. Instead, I-790 westbound uses part of Genesee Street to get between the I-90 interchange and the highways carrying NY 5 along the Thruway.