Interstate 86 (east) Article Index for
Interstate 86
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Information About

Interstate 86 (east)




:''Interstate 86 was once assigned to what is now Interstate 84 east of East Hartford, Connecticut.

Interstate Information

  article Route 86
  type Main
  map Interstate 86 E Future mappng
  length Mi 1916
  length Round 1
  length Ref MapQuest driving directions: part 1 and part 2
  direction A West
  terminus A I-90 in Erie, PA
  junction US 219 near Salamanca, NY <br> I-390 near Avoca, NY <br> US 15 near Corning, NY
  direction B East
  terminus B '''Temporary:''' in Harriman, NY


Interstate 86 ('''I-86''') is an route with the same number, terminating in the New York City suburbs.

Several sections of NY 17 are not up to Freeway or Interstate Standards , and need to be upgraded before I-86 can be designated along its full length. These substandard sections are located near Elmira , Binghamton, and the Catskill Mountains .

I-86 currently travels 6.99 miles Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways as of October 31, 2002 (11.25 km) in Pennsylvania and 184.6 miles (297.1 km) in New York . Except for a section of about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) that dips into Pennsylvania near Waverly, New York but is maintained by the New York State Department Of Transportation , the rest of I-86 will be in New York.

The Southern Tier Expressway section west of Binghamton is also Corridor T of the Appalachian Development Highway System . U.S. Route 219 extended will also join Interstate 86.


ROUTE DESCRIPTION



Pennsylvania to Olean

I-86 begins at Interstate 90 in a relatively flat area of northwestern Pennsylvania , and crosses into New York , heading towards Chautauqua Lake . This piece was built along a new alignment in the 1980s as a Two-lane Freeway and widened to four lanes in 1996. Pennsylvania Highways: Interstate 86 The New York section of I-86, including the planned extensions, is defined as Interstate Route 507 in New York Highway Law ยง 340-a. New York State Law Defining I-86

After crossing Chautauqua Lake, I-86 merges into an older section of freeway at exit 10 near Bemus Point ; this freeway is now NY Route 954J northwest of the newer extension. NY 954J runs into NY Route 430 , which (along with NY Route 394 ) carried NY 17 to Westfield before the 1980s extension. From Bemus Point to Jamestown (exit 12), I-86 parallels the old NY 17 - now NY Route 430 - along the northeast shore of Chautauqua Lake. The Erie Railroad extension to Chicago (built as the Atlantic And Great Western Railroad ) comes into Jamestown from the southwest, and parallels I-86 to its junction with the Erie's original main line to Dunkirk at Salamanca .

From Jamestown to Salamanca, the old NY 17 (now mostly NY Route 394 ), the new I-86 and the railroad run generally parallel through river Valley s. The transportation routes run along the Chadakoin River , Conewango Creek and Little Conewango Creek to Steamburg (exit 17), cutting east to the Allegheny River at Coldspring there. The valley of the Allegheny takes the routes to Salamanca (exit 20), where the railroads merged, and beyond to Olean (25). From Salamanca to Olean, the old NY 17 is now NY Route 417 . At Olean, the Allegheny River and NY 417 (old NY 17) continue southeast, while I-86 and the Erie Railroad head northeast. NY 417 does not return to I-86 until exit 44 near Painted Post , and the Erie switches between the two alignments several times.


Olean to Elmira


I-86 and the Erie run northeast along the valleys of the Olean Creek and Oil Creek to Cuba (exit 28). From Cuba to Friendship (exit 29), they run through a valley and over a summit, then following the Van Campen Creek northeast to Belvidere (exit 30). At Belvidere, the Erie turns southeast to meet NY 417 at Wellsville , but I-86 continues northeast through the valleys of the Genesee River and Angelica Creek to Angelica (exit 31), and then east along the Angelica Creek, over a summit, and along the Karr Valley Creek to Almond (exit 33). This summit, at 2080 feet (634 m) above Sea Level , is the highest point along I-86, located between exits 32 ( West Almond ) and 33 and marked with a sign. OKRoads -- Interstate 86 New York - Eastbound - Pennsylvania State Line to Almond

At Almond, I-86 rejoins the Erie Railroad, passing through the Canacadea Creek valley about halfway to Hornellsville . However, where the railroad turns southeast to Hornellsville, I-86 continues northeast across a summit and into the wide Canisteo River valley (exit 34). It leaves the valley along the Carrington Creek , but quickly turns east across a summit to follow the Big Creek and cross another summit to Howard (exit 35). I-86 runs alongside Goff Creek from Howard to the wide Cohocton River valley, where it meets the south end of Interstate 390 (exit 36) near Avoca and turns southeast through that valley, parallel to the Erie's Rochester - Painted Post line ( Buffalo, New York And Erie Railroad ).

I-86, NY Route 415 (old U.S. Route 15 ) and the Erie branch all run southeast along the Cohocton River past Bath (exit 38) to Painted Post (exit 44), now the north end of US 15. NY 417 - old NY 17 - also ends at exit 44, while NY 415 continues east into Corning (exits 45-46). From Painted Post through Corning to Big Flats (exit 49), I-86, NY Route 352 (old NY 17) and the Erie Railroad run through the Chemung River valley. NY 352 begins at exit 45, west of downtown Corning, and is a recently-bypassed four-lane road through Corning. East of East Corning (exit 48), the freeway was built as an on-the-spot upgrade of the old NY 17.

At Big Flats, the Chemung River (and NY 352) turns southeast to downtown Elmira , while I-86 and the Erie continue east-northeast alongside Singsing Creek and across a low summit before turning south at Horseheads along Newtown Creek to Elmira. The present end of I-86 is at NY Route 14 (exit 52) in Horseheads.

The surface road immediately thereafter crosses several major arterial roads in a fully developed area, which has
made this one of the most expensive sections to upgrade. Construction is underway to upgrade it to a freeway, by building a large arrangement of embankments and bridges. Another non-freeway section is present just east of the Elmira area, in a less developed area.


FUTURE

  • Elimination of at-grade intersections between exits 52 and 58 near Elmira , expected to be completed in July 2007

  • Elimination of "Kamikaze Curve" just west of Interstate 81 in Binghamton

  • Elimination of at-grade intersections between exits 84 and 87 and between exits 97 and 99 in the Catskills

  • Other Interchange improvements in the Catskills



MAJOR INTERSECTIONS



EXIT LIST

Exits are numbered from west to east, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines.
The state line is at mile 6.99.


REFERENCES