Skip to main content

Richmondville...and I-88

Image
By
Headed southwest to our Richmondville store this afternoon. It was for a store visit and I was overseeing a product reset.

Route:
NY 7 West, I-88 West, NY 7 East/NY 10 North.

Notes:
To most this is an uneventful trip, a 30 minute drive down I-88 to a rural store. And it is just that, an uneventful 30 minute drive from my office down I-88 to a rural store. But I figured this would be a great time to just comment on one of my favorite Interstate drives, I-88.

I've never traveled in the Mountain West (with the exception of a weekend in Alberta in 1996) but for some reason, Interstate 88 is what I would think how the Interstates in the Rockies would look. I-88 is rural...desolate..and (not as high as the Rockies of course) mountain scenery. One of the more spectacular views is heading west on I-88 approaching Exit 23 (NY 7/30/30A) The interchange is at the bottom of a valley so both the east bound and west bound approaches to the exit is down hill. However, heading westbound the road rises and curves thruogh a mountain pass. What is also visually appealing is on the south side of the highway is another mountain range that shoots southwards towards Schoharie. The mountain that is on the southbound side is called Terrace Mountain and Schoharie creek runns at the base of the valley.

It is also a great view from NY 7, which runs parallel on the north side of the highway. A few weeks ago while on lunch, i drove down to this point. Lake effect snows were going through the area and you can see the effect of low clouds mixed with a blue sky with mountains poking through the low clouds. A pretty impressive site, no camera oh well. It's a little spot of country that looks great no matter the season.

Here's a photo by Chris Jordan from an overpass before the entire valley comes into view.

If you have travelled I-88, and specifically through the area I just described..what are your thoughts of it?
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I took I-88 from Richmondville to I-90 as part of my daily commute for a few months last year, and have travelled other parts of I-88 quite extensively as well. I do favor I-88 east of Oneonta because of the abundance of hills, particularly the stretch between Worcester and Richmondville.

I-88 going across the Schoharie Creek is majestic, but it can be a pain to ascend the corresponding hills.
9:16 PM
Anonymous said…
I must agree that Interstate 88 is a beautiful drive, especially now that I have seen it during the day. Carter Buchanan and I traveled it during this past Summer, and the vistas along the rural freeway are striking as the highway cuts across the Catskills.

However when comparing it to the Rocky Mountains, there are some similarities, but the mountain peaks are so high along Interstate 70 for instance, that you rarely get a wide open view like you do in that photo taken by Chris Jordan. Also many of the mountains in the west are devoid of any trees, especially those toward Grand Junction in western Colorado. A lot of that has to do with the more arid climate that you get out there.
3:04 AM
Georgia Road Geek said…
Nice picture of I-88 in New York State. :)
8:23 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

By
The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high
2 comments
Read more

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

By
The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles.  The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County.  Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57.  California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10.  Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10.  The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of
Post a Comment
Read more

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba
Post a Comment
Read more