Origins and the Quickway The first long-distance route through the modern I-86 corridor was
NY 17, which extended from
Westfield to
New Jersey via
Harriman when it was assigned in 1924. Much of NY 17 followed a routing parallel or identical to that of the modern Southern Tier Expressway and Quickway; however, it followed a more northerly routing between Westfield and
Bemus Point (via modern
NY 394 and
NY 430) and a more southerly track from
Belvidere to
Corning (via what is now
NY 19 and
NY 417). NY 17 was realigned as part of the
1930 state highway renumbering to travel directly from
Olean to
Wellsville on modern NY 417, located well to the south of today's Southern Tier Expressway. By the late 1940s, the portion of NY 17 through the
Catskill Mountains and
Orange and
Rockland counties had become prone to massive traffic jams due to both its winding and narrow composition and congestion in the villages and
hamlets along the highway. As a result, the state of
New York began making plans to construct an expressway leading from the
New York State Thruway at Harriman to the Catskills. Construction of the NY 17 freeway began in 1947 in the Hudson Valley town of
Wallkill. The first section of the new freeway, a bypass of
Middletown between
Fair Oaks (exit 118A, since removed) and
Goshen (exit 123), opened to traffic in July 1951 as a realignment of NY 17. In 1954, several severe accidents occurred along parts of the surface NY 17, compelling the state to make constructing the freeway, dubbed the "Quickway", a higher priority. The first segments of what became known as the Southern Tier Expressway, a westward continuation of the Quickway, were completed in the mid-1960s. Four sections were opened to traffic at this time:
Kennedy (exit 14) to
Randolph (exit 16),
Coldspring (exit 17) to western
Salamanca (exit 20),
Campbell (exit 41) to
Corning (exit 45), and
East Corning (exit 48) to
Lowman (exit 57), parts of which were built as a surface highway. The Coldspring to Salamanca section was built out of necessity: in 1967, the first
stress test of the
Kinzua Dam had submerged part of the original NY 17 into the
Allegheny Reservoir and made it impassable. Construction of the new highway destroyed most of the town of
Red House. A fifth section, from
Owego (exit 65) to
Johnson City (exit 69), opened in early 1969. The portion of the expressway between
Nichols (exit 62) and Owego was opened to traffic on October 3, 1969. Four more segments of the Southern Tier Expressway were completed over the course of the next three years. By 1972, the gaps between Randolph and Coldspring and from Johnson City to I-81 in Binghamton were filled while the expressway was extended west from Kennedy to
Falconer (exit 13) and east from Lowman to
Waverly (exit 60). The missing link between Waverly and Nichols was completed by 1974. The portion of the freeway in and around Waverly was originally planned to be built on the right-of-way of the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad through southern Waverly; however, the plan was scrapped in favor of a more southerly alignment that passed through the borough of
South Waverly, Pennsylvania. The realignment saved $2 million (equivalent to $ in ) in construction costs and spared a handful of industries in the highway's proposed path. Both state legislatures approved the realignment in 1966 after New York agreed to maintain the section of the freeway in Pennsylvania. As part of an agreement made between the two states, Pennsylvania acquired the necessary right-of-way and easements for the freeway at the expense of New York. Three other segments of the freeway were completed by 1974. Two of the three—from
Jamestown (exit 11) and Falconer and between
Almond (exit 33) and
Campbell—were extensions of preexisting sections while the third, connecting
Allegany (exit 24) to
Hinsdale (exit 27), was isolated from the other portions of the highway. The Southern Tier Expressway was extended westward to
Bemus Point by 1977, initially utilizing what is now
NY 954J. In the early 1980s, work began on a westward extension to the vicinity of
Erie, Pennsylvania. The
Findley Lake–Bemus Point (exits 4–10) segment was completed by 1985 while the portion from I-90 east of Erie to Findley Lake was opened by 1989. From I-90 to exit 8, the freeway was initially built as a
super two highway, with both directions utilizing what are now the eastbound lanes. The westbound lanes were built at a cost of $34 million (equivalent to $ in ) and opened to traffic on October 2, 1997.
Salamanca and Corning Construction of the freeway between exits 20 and 24 was delayed for several years by members of the
Seneca people, who objected to the freeway's proposed routing through the
Allegany Indian Reservation. On June 29, 1976, the state of New York made an agreement with the Seneca nation that paid approximately $1.8 million (equivalent to $ in ) to the Seneca people and property owners for the of land comprising the highway's proposed routing. In addition, the state ceded of land to the Seneca people— of which were taken from the adjacent
Allegany State Park—and agreed to support several tax and regulatory exemptions for the Senecas. The transaction was completed in September 1981, and construction on the segment began in 1982. The portion of the expressway between exits 20 and 21 was completed by 1985. This segment was completed by 1989 Work on the Corning Bypass, a freeway around the northern and eastern fringes of the city of Corning, began in the mid-1980s. The first segment of the highway—between
NY 414 (exit 46) and East Corning—was completed by 1989 served as a time-saving, toll-free alternate route to the Thruway for motorists going from the
New York City area to
Ohio and points west. In fact, the
New York State Thruway Authority initially opposed the highway's construction, fearing the loss of toll revenue on its own route from motorists
shunpiking via the new highway.
Designation and conversion The portion of the two-state freeway from I-90 near Erie to I-81 in Binghamton is designated as Corridor T of the
Appalachian Development Highway System. In 1998, all of PA 17 and the portion of NY 17 from the
Pennsylvania state line to Harriman were designated "High Priority Corridor 36" in the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). New York politicians, including Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and businesspeople backed the move in the hope that an efficient, high-speed roadway would inspire companies to start or expand their businesses in the state's southern counties. Shortly after the passage of TEA-21, Corridor 36 was legislatively designated as I-86 in an amendment to the bill. The
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) formally approved the designation on November 6, 1998, as "Future I-86". On December 3, 1999, all of PA 17 and the westernmost of NY 17 were officially designated as I-86 by the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) following improvements to bring the roadway up to
Interstate Highway standards. The designation was extended eastward to
NY 14 in
Horseheads on January 28, 2004, On May 1, 2006, the portion of NY 17 from I-81 in Binghamton east to
NY 79 in
Windsor was designated as part of I-86 and created a temporary gap in the designation. it was granted on March 28, 2008, adding another to the route. A portion of NY 17 between exits 56 and 59 originally had several at-grade intersections. Work on a project to eliminate the junctions began in January 2010. Three discontinuous sections of
County Route 60 (CR 60, named Brant Road, Oneida Road, and Old NY 17), a parallel surface road, were linked together as part of the project. The $65-million (equivalent to $ in ) project was completed on November 1, 2012. ==Future ==