U.S. Route 4 is a 253 mile (407 km) long
United States highway that runs from
East Greenbush, New York, in the west to
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the east, traversing through
Vermont.
In
New York, US 4 is signed north-south to reflect its alignment in the state. In Vermont and
New Hampshire, the route is signed east-west, the standard direction for even-numbered US highways.
Route description
US 4's western terminus at US 9 and US 20 in East Greenbush, New York, a suburb of Albany.
US 4 passes through the following states:
New York
In the state of
New York, US 4 begins at the concurrency of
US 9 and
US 20 in
East Greenbush. Heading northward, it has an interchange with
I-90, continuing northward into
Troy. In Troy, it passes by
Hudson Valley Community College as well as the headquarters of the
42nd Infantry Division. US 4 then heads downhill, passing the historic
South End Tavern as Burden Avenue, named for the historic
Burden Iron Works. Later, US 4 assumes Fourth Street, which splits into parallel one-way streets (Third Street handles southbound traffic). Once through
Troy's historic downtown, the streets meet and pass by the
Green Island Bridge, later passing under the
Collar City Bridge and into
Lansingburgh.
After Lansingburgh, US 4 turns left to cross the
Hudson River on the
Troy-Waterford Bridge, entering
Waterford, joining with
NY 32 to head north together west of the Hudson. After
Mechanicville, US 4 and NY 32 split, and US 4 passes by the
Battle of Saratoga and the
Saratoga National Cemetery. NY 32 joins again to pass through
Schuylerville, after which US 4 splits off to cross the Hudson one last time.
Runinng parallel to the
Champlain Canal, US 4 passes through villages including
Fort Edward,
Hudson Falls,
Fort Ann and
Whitehall. After a concurrency with
NY 22, US 4 heads eastward into
Vermont.
In New York, US 4's length is 79.75 miles (128.32 kilometers).
Vermont
In the state of
Vermont, US 4 immediately becomes a four-lane divided expressway. The historic routing of US 4 runs nearby as
VT 4A, which later becomes Business US 4 as it enters
Rutland. South of Rutland, US 4 meets
US 7 and overlaps it into downtown, meeting the east end of its business route. East of Rutland, US 4 is a two-lane highway, meandering through the
Green Mountains, passing by
Killington, going through
Woodstock and
Quechee, crossing the
Quechee Gorge, and meeting
US 5,
I-89, and
I-91 at
White River Junction. Crossing the
Connecticut River, US 4 enters New Hampshire.
In Vermont, US 4's length is 66.04 miles (106.26 kilometers).
New Hampshire
In the state of
New Hampshire, US 4 passes through
Lebanon, meeting I-89 again. It then heads southeast to
Boscawen, where it briefly overlaps
US 3 before joining
I-93 into
Concord. Turning east, US 4 briefly overlaps
I-393 and for a longer stretch with
US 202. Passing through
Durham, US 4 joins the
Spaulding Turnpike at
Dover Point and travels southeast to its eastern terminus in
Portsmouth at the
Portsmouth Traffic Circle.
In New Hampshire, US 4's length is 106.83 miles (171.90 kilometers).
History
Prior to being designated US 4, the road from
Whitehall, New York eastward through Vermont was
New England Interstate Route 13 (NE-13). From the Vermont-New Hampshire state line to
Franklin, New Hampshire, it was the eastern extension of
NE-14. From Franklin to
Concord, New Hampshire it used NE-6 (now
US 3), and from Concord to
Northwood, New Hampshire it used NE-9 (now
NH-9). Between Northwood and
Dover, New Hampshire, it used a road that was previously not numbered. From Dover to its eastern terminus at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the road used to be known as NE-16 (now
NH-16).
History of termini
1926-1930:
Glens Falls, New York at the point where
US 9 split into
US 9W and
9E, to
Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
1930-present:
East Greenbush, New York, following former
US 9E, through its former west terminus, to
Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
See also
East-West Highway (New England)Related routes
