How to Travel New York Thruway's Berkshire Connector

If you've ever traveled the New York Thruway, you'll know it has a mainland and several subroutes. One of these sub-routes is New York's Berkshire Connector running between just south of Albany to the Massachusetts line. Although this line is only 24.28 miles (39.07 km) long, it runs into several routes that connect this portion of the state to its mainline, making for one small, but yet seamless travel experience heading westbound-eastbound from the one point.

1

Travel Between Albany to Rensselaer Counties.

  1. Although in this section you have to take the I-87 mainline of the New York State Thruway at exit 21A from Coeymans (signed without the city name in which it's placed), this section is part of the closed-ticket system of I-87 southwest of Selkirk. The first part takes you over the Castleton-(on-Hudson) Bridge on the unsigned NY-912M about 0.95 miles (1.53 km) from the exit turn-off arriving into Schodak and even further into Columbia County later.
    • Traveling this route eastbound back to Coeyman and the mainline leads to trouble - because when you arrive back, you are forced to take I-87 southbound. If you want to go north, you must take I-90E at B1 and come out several exits north of the target (with some differences on the route then travel north and most of the routes you would have taken have ample exits on I-90 (having a more north direction), after the route turns you off to attack things from a different angle.
    Advertisement
2

Travel in Rensselaer County.

  1. This part of the route has only one exit at B1 in the Town of Schodack, which would take you towards Albany on it's I-90 integration route with I-90W and US-9. You'll encounter the exit at about mile-marker 6.58 miles (10.59 km) and this is the western terminus of the concurrency with I-90. The entire route from this one exit is considered to be part of I-90.
3

Travel Between Rensselaer and Columbia County.

  1. Although by the time your route settles down into a slight northwest-southeast alignment, it also encompasses two more exits at mile markers 15.09 miles (24.29 km) and 23.27 miles (37.45 km) for East Chatham's Taconic State Parkway (exit B2) and Canaan's Toll Barrier- marking the end of the NYS ticket system and the exit for Canaan-Austerlitz/NY-22 thereafter.
    • There is a final Canaan Toll Gantry on the route between exits B2 and B3 to accept the final toll on the Thruway at mile marker 18.1 miles (29.1 km).
    Advertisement
4

Find where this highway heads.

  1. This highway heads into Massachusetts as I-90 and as their tolled portion of the Massachusetts Turnpike. Their Massachusetts Turnpike heads through Springfield, Worcester, and into Boston where it becomes untolled, and heads up to the interstate's eastern terminus near Logan International Airport.

Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit

      Advertisement

      You Might Also Like

      How to
      Do Hairstyles for Curly Hair
      How to
      Make Sourdough Starter
      How to
      Make Thanksgiving Dinner for Two
      How to
      Style Shoulder Length Hair
      How to
      Make a Healthy Lunch
      How to
      Cook Egusi Soup
      How to
      Cook Ribs in the Oven
      How to
      Dress Modestly for a Mormon Church (for Females)
      How to
      Prepare a Raised Bed Garden
      How to
      Get Rid of Blackheads on Your Nose
      How to
      Make Chia Seed Pudding
      How to
      Plan Easter Games for a Children's Easter Party
      How to
      Do a Natural Everyday Makeup Look in 10 Minutes
      How to
      Make Microwaveable Rice Krispies Treats
      Advertisement

      About this article

      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 354 times.

      Did this article help you?

      Advertisement