New York State Route 443

NYS Route 443
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and the city of Albany
Length:	33.44 mi[3] (53.82 km)
Existed:	early 1970s[1][2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	NY 30 in Schoharie
East end:	US 9W / US 20 in Albany
Location
Counties:	Schoharie, Albany
Highway system
Numbered highways in New York Interstate • U.S. • N.Y. (former) • Reference • County ← NY 442 NY 444 →

New York State Route 443 (NY 443) is an east–west state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. The route begins at an intersection with NY 30 in the town of Schoharie and ends 33.44 miles (53.82 km) later at a junction with U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) and US 20 in the city of Albany. It passes through the Helderberg Mountains in the towns of Berne and New Scotland. Within the town of Bethlehem and the city of Albany, NY 443 is known as Delaware Avenue.

NY 443 was originally designated as the Albany County portion of NY 43 in the 1920s, but the NY 43 designation was truncated to Rensselaer in the early 1970s. The portion of NY 43 west of Madison Avenue in Albany was then redesignated as NY 443. Many of the reference markers along NY 443 bear the number "43" instead.

Route description

Schoharie County

Route 443 begins at an intersection with NY 30 in the Schoharie County town of Schoharie. The highway heads eastward, passing residential homes, fields, and forests. After making several turns in direction, Route 443 enters the town of Wright and the small hamlet of Shutters Corners. The highway leaves the hamlet uneventfully and heads to the southeast. NY 443 then enters the hamlet of Gallupville, where NY 146 begins. The highway makes a drastic turn to the south, entering the unofficial center of Gallupville.^[4]

In Gallupville, Route 443 turns eastward, passing homes and businesses. At the intersection with Knox Road (County Route 24 or CR 24), the highway turns to the southeast, with both roads paralleling for a short time. After Gallupville, the surroundings around Route 443 become rural again, with the highway changing directions several times. It follows Fox Creek southeast into Albany County.^[4]

Albany County

When Route 443 enters Albany County, it becomes known as the Helderberg Trail. The highway heads southward, still paralleling Fox Creek. Soon after, the highway enters the hamlet of West Berne. Route 443 and the Helderberg Trail leave West Berne uneventfully. Just outside of West Berne, the surroundings are again rural, with the highway turning to the southeast at an intersection with CR 254. Route 443 passes Berne Park before entering the hamlet of Berne.^[4]

Sign assembly for NY 443 at the western terminus of NY 156 in Berne

Berne is well-developed, with Route 443 passing through the center of town. Outside the community, Route 443 continues through rural regions similar to those it has followed for most of its length. Just outside of Berne, the highway intersects with NY 156, a highway that heads north to Knox then east to Altamont. Route 443 makes several turns in direction before heading steadily to the southeast. The surroundings around the highway have not changed, entering East Berne shortly after. Most of the intersections in this area are with county roads, entering the hamlet of Wolf Hill.^[4]

In Wolf Hill, NY 85 merges, and the two roads overlap along the Delaware Turnpike. The two highways pass Helderberg Lake and leave Wolf Hill soon after. The surroundings are still rural, with Route 85 turning off to the east along New Scotland Road soon after. Route 443 continues to the south as the Delaware Turnpike. The highway is still rural, with local roads becoming the only intersections. After intersecting with Tarrytown Road (CR 301), Route 443 heads through a small, residential downtown. NY 443 heads to the northeast and into Unionville.^[4]

City of Albany

In Unionville, Route 443 becomes concurrent with CR 308 at New Scotland South Road. CR 308 quickly turns off onto Feura Bush – Unionville Road, with the main highway (NY 443) heading eastward. The highway passes under the CSX Transportation-owned Selkirk Subdivision prior to passing through Unionville. Route 443 passes various businesses, homes, and forests as it continues through Albany County. The highway enters Bethlehem, where the road name becomes Delaware Avenue and the surroundings become more residential in nature. Here, NY 443 intersects with the southern terminus of NY 140. A junction with NY 335 comes soon after. Route 443 crosses over Normans Kill, a tributary of the Hudson River as it enters the city of Albany.^[4]

In Normansville, a hamlet just inside of the city limits, ownership and maintenance of the route shifts from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to the city of Albany.^[5] Continuing on, the highway passes over the New York State Thruway (Interstate 87) as it enters the inner core of the city. Here, NY 443 passes densely populated city blocks and intersects with US 9W (Southern Boulevard). US 9W joins NY 443 northeastward along Delaware Avenue to a junction with Lark Street and Madison Avenue (the latter designated as US 20) in Albany. Here, NY 443 and Delaware Avenue both come to an end while US 9W continues to the north along Lark Street.^[4]

History

Route 443 roughly follows an 18th century trail of the Mohawk Indians from the Hudson River to Schoharie Valley.^{[citation needed]} It was probably a few years before 1787 when Stephen Van Rensselaer III had it upgraded and straightened slightly to make it accessible by wagons.^{[citation needed]} Before that the settlers in the Beaver Dam as the Town of Berne is now known, had to go by way of the wagon road from Altamont, through what is now Knox, to the Schoharie Valley.^{[citation needed]}

In the mid-1920s, the entirety of modern NY 443 was designated as part of NY 43, a highway extending from NY 9 (now NY 7) in the hamlet of Central Bridge north of Schoharie to Albany. The 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York brought about a pair of changes in NY 43's alignment. On its western end, it was truncated to a junction with the newly-created NY 30 just north of Schoharie. To the east, NY 43 was extended east through Albany and across the Hudson River to the Massachusetts state line.^[6] NY 43 was truncated on its western end in the early 1970s to Rensselaer, a city bordering Albany on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Its former routing from Schoharie to Madison Avenue in Albany was redesignated as NY 443.^[1][2] Many of the reference markers along NY 443 still bear the number "43".^[3]

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[3]	Destinations	Notes
Schoharie	Town of Schoharie	0.00	NY 30
	Gallupville	3.79	NY 146	Western terminus of NY 146
Albany	Berne	10.62	NY 156	Southern terminus of NY 156
	East Berne	14.07	To NY 157A via Thatcher Park Road (NY 910J)
	New Scotland	17.64	NY 85 west	Western terminus of NY 85 / NY 443 overlap
		19.66	NY 85 east	Eastern terminus of NY 85 / NY 443 overlap
	Delmar	29.29	NY 140	Eastern terminus of NY 140
	Elsmere	29.96	NY 335	Northern terminus of NY 335
	Albany	32.09	US 9W south	Southern terminus of US 9W / NY 443 overlap; to I-87 / Thruway
		33.44	US 9W north / US 20	Northern terminus of US 9W / NY 443 overlap
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

New York Roads portal

1. ^ ^{a b} State of New York Department of Transportation (January 1, 1970) (PDF). Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State. http://www.greaternyroads.info/pdfs/state70.pdf. Retrieved April 4, 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Gulf Oil Company (1972). New York and New Jersey Tourgide Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company (1972 ed.). 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. p. 316. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_Traffic_Data_Report_2008.pdf. Retrieved January 10, 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} I Love New York (2007). 1977–2007 I Love New York State Map (Map). 
5. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (1993). Albany Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=s48. Retrieved December 17, 2010. 
6. ^ Dickinson, Leon A. (January 12, 1930). "New Signs for State Highways". The New York Times: p. 136. 

External links

• Alps' Roads – New York State Route 443
• New York Routes – New York State Route 443
• New York State Highway Termini – New York State Route 443