New York Thruway History

Location

• The NYS Thruway is the major east-west expressway of the state. It begins at the Pennsylvania border and splits at Albany, heading east to the Massachusetts border and southeast to New York City.

Cost

• It cost approximately $1 billion to construct the NYS Thruway.

Governor Dewey

• The route became known as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway in 1964 to honor Dewey's vision to create the highway.

Eisenhower Interstate System

• Congress in 1990 designated the NYS Thruway to be part of the 43,000-mile Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways.

Tolls

• The NYS Thruway has always been funded entirely by tolls. The NYS Thruway Authority does not receive any money from state government to maintain the highway.