https://www.nysdot.gov/news/press-releases/2010/2010-10-08
One thing that surprised me in the article is that this will save money. Wouldn't it cost money, since toll money from the NYSTA will no longer be used to support it?
IIRC, NYSDOT was paying NYSTA to maintain I-84, along with paying Troop T of the State Police (which covers the Thruway) to patrol the highway...therefore, the statement about saving money might be true. They figure to save money by handling routine maintenance themselves rather than paying to outsource it (in this case to NYSTA)...so they, in essence, reduce their costs, thus saving both NYSDOT and NYSTA money.
There was a thread (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=3445.0) on this last month. In a nutshell, NYSDOT took I-84 back in 2007, but as cu noted, have been contractng with NYSTA for maintenance since then. That ends Monday.
I'd like to note that the Thruway symbols on the I-84 mileposts have already been covered up. Some of them look like they were taken off entirely...on others, they were covered up by some sort of patch that's a slightly darker green than the rest of the milepost. Saw that on my drive north yesterday.
The State had to hire 54 employees (including highway maintenance workers, mechanics, bridge repair staff and four crew supervisors) and spent nearly $6 million in maintenance equipment for the highway (including dump trucks, pickup trucks, mowers and a front-end loader) and that's supposed to save money?
Needless to say, the Thruway workers were reassigned.