NY 481

[Voyager]

Is this ever going to be extended as a freeway to Oswego? It's such a beautiful freeway and such a beautiful town, honestly I hope that it never is.

[Dougtone]

Is this ever going to be extended as a freeway to Oswego? It's such a beautiful freeway and such a beautiful town, honestly I hope that it never is.

I went to college in Oswego, so I was always annoyed that the NY 481 freeway ended in Fulton, and that you'd have to trudge through the city streets of Fulton.  There had been talk of a Fulton Bypass years ago, but that never came to fruition.  NY 481 between Fulton and Oswego is a divided highway with at-grade intersections, and it moves well.  With New York State's current financial situation, and that traffic does not seem to warrant any additional construction, I don't see this happening.

[02 Park Ave]

Oswego was once a major shipping port.  The New York, Ontario, and Western RR served it bringing the cargoes eastward down to NYC.

[froggie]

Is this a new record for thread necro'ing?

[hotdogPi]

Is this a new record for thread necro'ing?

In terms of total days passed, yes. However, it is not the oldest thread necroed; there was a January 21 thread necroed in December, and a January 26 thread in February.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=113.0
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=108.0

[seicer]

There was opposition from Republicans back in 1974 on completing the highway from Fulton to Oswego (Post-Standard, Sept. 24, 1974, p. 31). It was projected in 1976 that the four-lane to Oswego could boost traffic to/from the ports by 30,000 VPD. (Post-Standard, Apr. 22, 1976, p. 18). There really isn't that much else that I could find in a 20 minute query but I suspect the decline in the ports along the lake contributed to the highway's ultimate cancellation/mothball.

[Roadsguy]

At least it's a four-lane surface expressway on the other side of Fulton, so the biggest need is simply a bypass of Fulton.

[roadman65]

Why can't NY just ask for AASHTO to extend I-481 to Fulton and include a bypass as it.  Just have it redesignated at Interstate 481 instead of NY Route 481 and downgrade the Route 481 at the freeway end.  That way the feds can pay for some of it at least.  Plus there is no reason why some of that particular freeway has to have a state designation over a national interstate anyway!  Look at I-495 on Long Island was part Interstate and part State Route and then they wised up and gave the I prefix to Route 495 to the whole LIE!

[dlainhart]

Why can't NY just ask for AASHTO to extend I-481 to Fulton and include a bypass as it.  Just have it redesignated at Interstate 481 instead of NY Route 481 and downgrade the Route 481 at the freeway end.  That way the feds can pay for some of it at least.  Plus there is no reason why some of that particular freeway has to have a state designation over a national interstate anyway!  Look at I-495 on Long Island was part Interstate and part State Route and then they wised up and gave the I prefix to Route 495 to the whole LIE!

This will never happen, but since we're talking about wild plans:
Extend I-481 to the end of the freeway in Fulton, then resurrect and resign NY 57. It's an important route signed by the county as "57" as that is what it's known as, and has even been posted on BGSes as NY 57 at the Thruway interchange. The county can still maintain it, it's not like there's a lack of precedent there.