New York State Route 50 is a long state highway in the Capital District of the U.S. state of New York. The southern terminus of the route is at NY 5 in Scotia. The northern terminus is at NY 32 in the Saratoga County hamlet of Gansevoort.

Route description

Schenectady County

Route 50 begins in Scotia at the intersection of NY 5 and winds its way through the village and into Glenville. NY 50 travels past the Schenectady County Airport, which includes the Stratton Air National Guard Base, home to the 109th Airlift Wing, and the Empire State Aeronautics Museum on its way to the Saratoga County line.

Saratoga County

NY 50 enters Saratoga County in Burnt Hills and winds its way through the countryside. At Ballston Spa, NY 67 comes in from the west as High Street, just north of the Verbeck House. The two run concurrent into the village's downtown, past the National Bottle Museum.

On its way to Saratoga Springs, NY 50 passes the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Saratoga Spa State Park. It then meets up with US 9 and forms a brief three-way concurrency with NY 29 at the corner of Broadway and Washington Avenue adjacent to Congress Park. About a quarter-mile later, NY 29 becomes Lake Avenue and heads towards Schuylerville. The southern terminus of NY 9N is also at this point, known as Church Street within city limits. The 9/50 concurrency goes another 1¼ miles before the former splits off and goes towards Glens Falls. From Broadway and Van Dam Street to Interstate 87, NY 50 is known as either the C.V. Whitney Memorial Highway or, more informally, "The Arterial".

East of Interstate 87, NY 50 passes the Wilton Mall, located about three-quarters of a mile from I-87 in the Town of Wilton. After passing the mall, NY 50 cuts through the countryside, ultimately reaching its end in Gansevoort at the intersection of NY 32.

History

When state highways in New York were first signed in 1924, the portion of modern NY 50 south of Saratoga Springs was designated as part of NY 10, a north-south highway extending from the New Jersey state line near New York City to Saranac Lake via Albany and Saratoga Springs. In the 1930 renumbering, NY 10 was realigned south of Long Lake to pass west of the Capital District on its way to the Southern Tier. The old alignment of NY 10 between Scotia and Saratoga Springs, as well as a previously unnumbered roadway between Saratoga Springs and Gansevoort, was then assigned NY 50.Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1930/31 and 1931/32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930/31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the 1930 renumbering

NY 50S

NY 50S was a connector stretching from Route 50 in Glenville to NY 5 in Schenectady. Now decertified, it remains as Freeman's Bridge Road in the former and Erie Boulevard in the latter. The portion from Nott Street north to NY 50 remains state-maintained as NY 911F, an unsigned reference route.

Major intersections