I-587 in Kingston

[Jay H]

http://www.gribblenation.com/hfotw/exit_16.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_587

Maybe another good question for Mark...

Seems that I-587 is an odd designation for a highway that does not connect two states.. heck it seems to be completely contained within the city of Kingston, NY! Why is it an interstate... Just thought that as odd...

Jay

[mountainmeijin]

Lots of interstate highways are actually just intra-state, and not just spurs either. There's I-45 and I-37 in Texas, I-12 and I-49 in Louisiana, I-4 in Florida, I-88 and I-87 here in New York, I-96 in Michigan, I-43 in Wisconsin, et cetera.

Maybe Kingston was at a financial advantage to call it an interstate, even if it is only a few miles long.

[Jay H]

..and as mentioned in one of the links I provided, it doesn't even connect to I-87 aka the Thruway.. it connects the Kingston Circle to Broadway, Albany St (Rt 32), etc....

Jay

[Mark Schaefer]

I can't offer much more insight. I-587 (Chandler Drive) is named for a Colonel George F. Chandler. I cannot recall if he was a revolutionary or civil war colonel. From what I heard the road has always been considered a bit of a boondoggle from the Rockefeller era. It seems like a simple 4 lane highway would have been sufficient.

With the conversion of the traffic circle into a tighter rotary, there was room to add some lanes that bypass the rotary. So you can now go from I-587 directly to I-87, however, there is still no direct connection from I-87 to I-587. So I-587 remains unique in the interstate highway system - with no complete connection to at least one other interstate highway. In general all federal (US or interstate) highways are supposed to end at other federal highways. Key West and border crossings are supposed to be the only exceptions.