U.S. Route 9W

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U.S. Route 9W
Length: 141 mi[1] (227 km)
Formed: 1926[1]
South end: I-95/US 1/9/46 in Fort Lee, NJ
Major
junctions:		 Palisades Parkway in Alpine, NJ
I-87/I-287 in Nyack, NY
in Haverstraw, NY
US 6/US 202/PIP in Fort Montgomery, NY
I-84 in Newburgh, NY
US 44 in Highland, NY
US 209 in Lake Katrine, NY
I-87 in Coxsackie, NY
I-787 near Albany, NY
US 20 in Albany, NY
North end: US 9 in Albany, NY
United States Numbered Highways
Spur of US 9
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced
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U.S. Route 9W is a U.S. Highway which runs from Interstate 95, U.S. Routes 1 and 9, US-46, and the Palisades Interstate Parkway at the foot of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey up the west side of the Hudson River to terminate at its parent, U.S. Route 9, again in Albany, New York.

Contents

[edit] Route description

For much of its length, Route 9W is a two-lane surface road. However, some stretches in New York widen to four lanes, and much of the highway in Orange County is like an expressway even if not so designated.

[edit] New Jersey

Heading north from Fort Lee, US 9W occupies the right-of-way of the Palisades Interstate Parkway to Lemoine Avenue, the northern terminus of Route 67. US 9W exits the expressway, turning north onto Lemoine Avenue, later Sylvan Avenue, where it passes the headquarters of CNBC. It continues to parallel the PIP to its west as they progress northward along the west bank of the Hudson River. Both roads run very near the top of the Palisades, occasionally offering views of New York City and the river.

Lemoine is heavy with commercial development at the Fort Lee end, but as the road runs into Englewood Cliffs and into the affluent community of Alpine in the state's northeastern corner, it becomes more residential. Near Norwood, just south of the state line, Route 9W crosses under the parkway and enters New York.

[edit] New York

[edit] Rockland County

Across the state line, US 9W continues in Palisades, New York as Highland Avenue, a two-lane road through mostly residential suburban surroundings. It passes Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and then Tallman Mountain State Park. Bending westward to Sparkill, it meets NY 340.

Major cities

It returns to the riverside at Piermont, where it takes the name Broadway Avenue. Running due north, it enters Nyack and meets with Interstate 87/287 (New York State Thruway) just west of the Tappan Zee Bridge. It then runs along the Thruway to the east terminus of NY 59 in downtown Nyack, where it becomes North Highland Avenue once again. North of Upper Nyack, it passes Rockland Lake and then the eponymous state park.

Alongside the park, it crosses town lines again. NY 303 reaches its north end just after the park, and after a tight curve NY 304, reaches its eastern terminus as well.

US 9W then returns to the riverside briefly, trending away from it into Haverstraw under the name Congers Avenue. The village is followed immediately by West Haverstraw, where US 202 comes in at an oblique angle and joins 9W, creating the first concurrency along the route.

Route 9W climbing mountains in northern Rockland County.
Route 9W climbing mountains in northern Rockland County.

The combined highways head north from the Haverstraws as South, then North, Liberty Drive, passing Stony Point Battlefield. They return to the Hudson at Tomkins Cove, just across from the Indian Point Energy Center. Here the road curves and bends above the river as it works its way around Dunderberg Mountain, the southernmost peak of the Hudson Highlands and part of Bear Mountain State Park.

At Jones Point, it levels out again briefly and then 9W/202 climb to the heart of the state park at Bear Mountain Inn and Hessian Lake, where the Appalachian Trail crosses beneath the road in the only man-made tunnel along its entire route. The Orange County line is crossed just before Bear Mountain Circle.

[edit] Orange County

The circle marks the northern terminus of the Palisades Parkway and the junction with US 6. 202 leaves 9W to join Route 6 here and cross the Bear Mountain Bridge.

North of the circle, US 9W continues as an undivided four-lane road, crossing Popolopen Creek and affording a spectacular view of the similarly-named Torne. It passes first the historic Fort Montgomery, then enters the small hamlet of the same name, distinguished by a post office, gas station and some other small businesses.

A half-mile (1 km) further north, NY 218, the former route of 9W, forks off to right, carrying traffic to Highland Falls and the United States Military Academy at West Point. At this point 9W becomes a divided limited-access highway as it starts to climb the highlands above the village and the academy. The first exit is Route 218, which joins 9W for a mile just north of the village. It leaves the highway at the northern terminus of NY 293 to run alongside Storm King Mountain.

Route 9W winding through the Hudson Highlands
Route 9W winding through the Hudson Highlands

From here, 9W continues its ascent, offering sweeping views over the river and Highlands, with an overlook available to northbound drivers. The surrounding land is all woods, part of the vast USMA property. After passing Crow's Nest, Storm King and the rocky cliff faces of Butter Hill dominate the northward view. Another parking lot allows the chance to stop and take it all in, as well as hike the Stillman Trail up the two peaks.

After Storm King, the road begins a long descent into the Town of Cornwall. Just outside the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson and the fields of New York Military Academy, NY 218 ends its loop. Shortly afterwards, the division ends and grade intersections resume, although the road remains four lanes as it enters the Town of New Windsor.

It descends again and passes the popular local banquet hall Anthony's Pier 9, where Breakneck Ridge and Bull Hill tower across the river. Traffic begins to slow down at the center of town, where NY 94 ends its journey across the county. After this traffic light, the road begins to narrow. Once across Quassaick Creek and into Newburgh, it is Robinson Avenue, a wide urban arterial with parking along the sides.

It ascends gently past Delano-Hitch Stadium and the associated park to the center of its passage across Newburgh, the intersection with Broadway. Here NY 17K has its eastern terminus, and NY 32, the other main surface route west of the Hudson, begins its first concurrency with 9W.

Downing Park in the city of Newburgh.
Downing Park in the city of Newburgh.

Passing Broadway School, the two routes head into a more residential sector of the city, marked by the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Downing Park. The road's climb continues until North Junior High School, where it starts to descend to the busy exit at Interstate 84, visible ahead, just west of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. This junction, also including NY 52, is the city's northern limit.

Immediately after it, NY 32 leaves to the northwest while 9W continues northwards. It passes Powelton Country Club, part of the affluent community of Balmville, first of several within the Town of Newburgh that 9W will pass. Middle Hope follows, as the road becomes a two-lane route with a rural feel. Development continues along the road, but there are increasingly large unbroken fields or woodlots and finally, in the northern reaches of the town, orchards. At Roseton, past the access road to the nearby power plants, the highway reaches the county line just past the turnoff to the Gomez Mill House, the earliest suriving Jewish home in the U.S.

[edit] Ulster County

Traffic is slowed when it passes through the hamlet of Marlboro, but otherwise there is little change in Route 9W until it widens to four lanes again just south of the Mid-Hudson Bridge approach overpass. At this point, US 44 and NY 55 join the highway from the east. The road becomes a busy commercial strip for the next mile to the concurrency's end, where 44 and 55 go down into Highland. The four lanes continue, however, for several more miles until it reaches the eastern terminus of NY 299, the road that carries traffic west toward the Thruway and New Paltz.

North of that intersection, the road returns to two lanes through West Park and Esopus, passing primarily through largely undeveloped, primarily wooded countryside. It becomes more built up at Port Ewen, just south of Kingston, which it enters by crossing Rondout Creek via the John T. Loughran Bridge and becoming Frank Koenig Boulevard.

Route 9W entering Kingston.
Route 9W entering Kingston.

It runs right through Kingston this way and meets NY 32 again at the city's northern boundary. Turning left, 9W's second concurrency with 32 is only 500 feet (151 m) long as it almost immediately turns right onto East Chester Street. The road widens again, becoming a busy commercial strip. At the freeway interchange ahead for the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, US 209 comes to its northern end and NY 199 its western.

In Lake Katrine, the road begins to narrow and traffic lightens. US 9W stays on a straight northward course, following alongside Esopus Creek but not crossing it, until it veers northeast to merge, once again, with NY 32.

This third concurrency finally brings the road over the Esopus and into the riverside village of Saugerties. Here 9W follows Main Street when the routes part again, with 32 carrying NY 212 out of this junction. As Malden Avenue, the highway continues north alongside the river once again, passing through the hamlet of Malden-on-Hudson on its way up into Greene County.

[edit] Greene County and north

In Catskill, 9W meets with NY-23A, then NY-385 at its southern terminus, then a mile north, NY-23.

In Coxsackie, 9W meets this time with the northern terminus of NY-385, as well as the eastern terminus of NY-81. In West Coxsackie, 9W meets with the New York State Thruway(I-87), then a little bit further north, NY-144, then NY-143.

NY-396 meets 9W in Selkirk. After briefly joining with NY-32 again, 9W meets Interstate 787 south of Albany. Immediately thereafter, NY-443 joins 9W until Madison Avenue (US 20), where NY-443 ends. US 9W, however, continues on, meeting with NY-5 (junction not signed on NY-5) before meeting US-9 at Clinton Avenue, US-9W's northern end.

[edit] Major intersections

[edit] New Jersey

[edit] New York

[edit] Notes

In Albany, New York, the north end of US 9W and part of US 9 were intended to be rerouted onto a formerly proposed limited-access highway called the Mid-Crosstown Arterial.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b US Highways: Divided and Split Routes Robert V. Droz.

[edit] External links

Browse numbered routes
< NJ 9 NJ NJ 10 >
< NY 9R NY NY 9X >
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Transportation routes in the Hudson River corridor between New York City and Albany
West of river
East of river