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New York State Bicycle Route System
In the early 1990s, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) created the state's first full-time bicycle and pedestrian program. Utilizing funding provided by the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. Lou Rossi, as Director of the NYSDOT Transportation Planning Division, played a central role in getting the program started, and hired Jeff Olson as NYSDOT Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager.
In the first year of the program, Rossi proposed that NYSDOT establish a signed network of on-road bike routes across the state as a catalyst for becoming a more bicycle-friendly state. Working with the support of NYSDOT Commissioner John Egan, he collaborated with all 11 NYSDOT Regions and 13 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to define the potential routes. The top priorities were to establish a route from Albany to Buffalo to complement the developing Erie Canalway Trail (and to provide interim connections for gaps in the trail), and to sign a route from New York City to Montreal along the Hudson and Champlain Valleys.
The routes were numbered to align with the existing state highways that crossed the state, but were located on a combination of roadways that provided the best available conditions for bicyclists. The east-west route became known as Bike Route 5, and the north-south route was designated Bike Route 9. In an effort that brought together communities across the state, more than 1,000 miles of signage for both routes 5 and 9 was installed within two years by teams of NYSDOT staff. A cross-state celebration ride was held in the summer of 1994, with teams of riders carrying water from the Hudson River and Niagara Falls to meet at Sylvan Beach in the middle of the state. (photo provided)
By 1996, NYSDOT adopted the first Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, which included a mapped network of signed routes connecting across the entire state. The route network was implemented over time, and NYSDOT provided maps of the system. For many years, the map for the Erie Canalway Trail included both the off-road trail and the on-road connections along Bike Route 5. New York became one of the first states to have a system of this kind, and it became one of the predecessors of the National Bike Route system currently being advanced by Adventure Cycling, AASHTO and others. The success of the NY State Bike Route system led to decades of projects across the state, including completion of the Empire State Trail in December 2020.
The two longest cross-state routes, the east-west Bike Route 5 and the north-south Bike Route 9, intersect in downtown Albany. They meet alongside the Hudson River. This emblematic point is known as Rossi Junction. A rest area here was dedicated to the late Lou Rossi. He was a committed civil servant who, more than anyone, was instrumental in bringing about the State’s system of signed bike routes. He typified the dedicated state workers who work and live in Albany.
The following is a list of New York State bicycle routes. These routes are designated by the New York State Department of Transportation.
New York State Bicycle Route 5 runs from Niagara Falls east to the Massachusetts border in New Lebanon. The route passes through the communities of Niagara Falls (with a spur to Buffalo), Lockport, Middleport, Albion, Rochester, Lyons, Baldwinsville, Rome, Utica, Herkimer, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Schenectady, Albany, and Rensselaer. It overlaps State Bicycle Route 9 over the Dunn Memorial Bridge over the Hudson River.
New York State Bicycle Route 9 runs from New York City north to the border with Canada in Rouses Point. The route begins at Central Park in Harlem, Manhattan, crosses the George Washington Bridge and follows U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) through a portion of New Jersey before entering New York again in Palisades. The route passes through Nyack, Haverstraw, and then Bear Mountain State Park, where it crosses the Bear Mountain Bridge to move onto New York State Route 9D. Before reaching Downtown Cold Spring, NYS Bike Route 9 leaves NY 9D and moves onto Putnam CR 16 (Pekskill Road) overlapping the entire route until it terminates at New York State Route 301 then turns east to overlap NY 301 until it reaches U.S. Route 9. Finally running along its parent route, NYS Bicycle Route 9 passes through Fishkill, Wappingers Falls (where in intersects State Bicycle Route 17), Poughkeepsie (where in intersects State Bicycle Route 44), Rhinebeck(where in intersects State Bicycle Route 308), Red Hook(where in intersects State Bicycle Route 199), Hudson(where in intersects State Bicycle Route 23), Rensselaer, Albany (where it intersects State Bicycle Route 5), Troy, Waterford, Fort Edward, Hudson Falls, Adirondack Park, and Plattsburgh.
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New York State Bicycle Route System
In the early 1990s, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) created the state's first full-time bicycle and pedestrian program. Utilizing funding provided by the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. Lou Rossi, as Director of the NYSDOT Transportation Planning Division, played a central role in getting the program started, and hired Jeff Olson as NYSDOT Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager.
In the first year of the program, Rossi proposed that NYSDOT establish a signed network of on-road bike routes across the state as a catalyst for becoming a more bicycle-friendly state. Working with the support of NYSDOT Commissioner John Egan, he collaborated with all 11 NYSDOT Regions and 13 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to define the potential routes. The top priorities were to establish a route from Albany to Buffalo to complement the developing Erie Canalway Trail (and to provide interim connections for gaps in the trail), and to sign a route from New York City to Montreal along the Hudson and Champlain Valleys.
The routes were numbered to align with the existing state highways that crossed the state, but were located on a combination of roadways that provided the best available conditions for bicyclists. The east-west route became known as Bike Route 5, and the north-south route was designated Bike Route 9. In an effort that brought together communities across the state, more than 1,000 miles of signage for both routes 5 and 9 was installed within two years by teams of NYSDOT staff. A cross-state celebration ride was held in the summer of 1994, with teams of riders carrying water from the Hudson River and Niagara Falls to meet at Sylvan Beach in the middle of the state. (photo provided)
By 1996, NYSDOT adopted the first Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, which included a mapped network of signed routes connecting across the entire state. The route network was implemented over time, and NYSDOT provided maps of the system. For many years, the map for the Erie Canalway Trail included both the off-road trail and the on-road connections along Bike Route 5. New York became one of the first states to have a system of this kind, and it became one of the predecessors of the National Bike Route system currently being advanced by Adventure Cycling, AASHTO and others. The success of the NY State Bike Route system led to decades of projects across the state, including completion of the Empire State Trail in December 2020.
The two longest cross-state routes, the east-west Bike Route 5 and the north-south Bike Route 9, intersect in downtown Albany. They meet alongside the Hudson River. This emblematic point is known as Rossi Junction. A rest area here was dedicated to the late Lou Rossi. He was a committed civil servant who, more than anyone, was instrumental in bringing about the State’s system of signed bike routes. He typified the dedicated state workers who work and live in Albany.
The following is a list of New York State bicycle routes. These routes are designated by the New York State Department of Transportation.
New York State Bicycle Route 5 runs from Niagara Falls east to the Massachusetts border in New Lebanon. The route passes through the communities of Niagara Falls (with a spur to Buffalo), Lockport, Middleport, Albion, Rochester, Lyons, Baldwinsville, Rome, Utica, Herkimer, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Schenectady, Albany, and Rensselaer. It overlaps State Bicycle Route 9 over the Dunn Memorial Bridge over the Hudson River.
New York State Bicycle Route 9 runs from New York City north to the border with Canada in Rouses Point. The route begins at Central Park in Harlem, Manhattan, crosses the George Washington Bridge and follows U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) through a portion of New Jersey before entering New York again in Palisades. The route passes through Nyack, Haverstraw, and then Bear Mountain State Park, where it crosses the Bear Mountain Bridge to move onto New York State Route 9D. Before reaching Downtown Cold Spring, NYS Bike Route 9 leaves NY 9D and moves onto Putnam CR 16 (Pekskill Road) overlapping the entire route until it terminates at New York State Route 301 then turns east to overlap NY 301 until it reaches U.S. Route 9. Finally running along its parent route, NYS Bicycle Route 9 passes through Fishkill, Wappingers Falls (where in intersects State Bicycle Route 17), Poughkeepsie (where in intersects State Bicycle Route 44), Rhinebeck(where in intersects State Bicycle Route 308), Red Hook(where in intersects State Bicycle Route 199), Hudson(where in intersects State Bicycle Route 23), Rensselaer, Albany (where it intersects State Bicycle Route 5), Troy, Waterford, Fort Edward, Hudson Falls, Adirondack Park, and Plattsburgh.