The South Mall Arterial is a expressway in Albany,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in the United States. It begins at an intersection with Swan Street and runs eastward under the

Empire State Plaza The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza (known commonly as the Empire State Plaza, and also as the South Mall) is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York. The complex was built between 1965 a ...

to the west end of the

Dunn Memorial Bridge The Dunn Memorial Bridge, officially known as the Private Parker F. Dunn Memorial Bridge, carries US 9 and US 20 across the Hudson River between Albany, New York and Rensselaer, New York. Description Completed in 1969 to replace an earlier span be ...

, where the highway ends at an interchange between Interstate 787 (I-787), U.S. Route 9 (US 9), and US 20. The road is maintained by the

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, Rail transport, railroads, mass transit systems ...

(NYSDOT) as New York State Route 913V (NY 913V), an unsigned reference route.

Route description

The arterial begins at an unorthodox intersection with Swan Street, a one-way, one-lane street that runs along the

's northwestern edge. Ramps connect the westbound arterial to Swan Street north and Swan Street north to the eastbound arterial, and the arterial itself abruptly ends with a

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a ...

just west of Swan Street. The highway heads to the southeast, passing under a row of buildings that marks the northwestern boundary of the Empire State Plaza. After a short piece open to the sky, the road heads under the center of the plaza in two tunnels, with access to and from the plaza's

parking garage A multistorey car park ( British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a bui ...

on the right. Two unused tunnels—which would have served through traffic—are present in the center, and two partial tunnels on the outside serve garage traffic. It emerges from the tunnels just west of Eagle Street, a two-lane road that loosely follows the southeastern boundary of the plaza. The arterial subsequently crosses over Eagle Street, with a westbound ramp providing access to the street and the nearby MVP Arena. Continuing eastward, the eastbound direction of the highway splits into two roads, one leading to the

and another connecting to

I-787 Interstate 787 (I-787) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of New York. I-787 is the main highway for those traveling into and out of downtown Albany. The southern terminus is, per New York traffic data, at the toll plaza ...

. The two halves of the highway are separated by only a

jersey barrier A Jersey barrier, Jersey wall, or Jersey bump is a modular concrete or plastic barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing vehicle crossovers resu ...

until Pearl Street ( US 20 and

NY 32 New York State Route 32 (NY 32) is a north–south state highway that extends for through the Hudson Valley and Capital District, New York, Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is a two-lane sur ...

), where the arterial enters a large interchange at the western end of the Dunn Memorial Bridge. Although both directions of the arterial are accessible from Pearl Street, there is no eastbound access from the arterial to Pearl Street. The original plans for the highway had included an eastbound exit to the street. East of Pearl Street, both directions of the highway physically split into two ramps. One roadway in each direction funnels traffic to and from I-787, while the other continues eastward onto the Dunn Memorial Bridge. At this point, the South Mall Arterial gives way to US 9 and US 20, which head across the bridge to Rensselaer. US 9 enters and exits the road via ramps paralleling I-787 to the north of the arterial while US 20 ascends onto the bridge via the Pearl Street entrance and exit ramps. The arterial is inventoried by NYSDOT as NY 913V, an unsigned reference route.

History

The highway was built in the early 1960s. The Arterial was to continue west to the east edge of Washington Park, where it would end at the Mid-Crosstown Arterial.Maps o
Capital Highways – Mid-Crosstown Arterial

Exit list

References

{{Reflist Limited-access roads in New York (state) Transportation in Albany, New York Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 20