U.S. Route 4 (US 4) is a long

United States highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

that runs from

East Greenbush, New York East Greenbush is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of Albany. The population was 16,473 at the 2010 census. The word Greenbush is derived from the Dutch ''het groen bosch,'' referring to the pine woods that ori ...

, in the west to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the east, traversing

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. In New York, US 4 is signed North-South to reflect its alignment in the state. In Vermont and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, the route is signed East-West, the conventional direction for even-numbered US highways.

Route description

, - , NY , , - , VT , , - , NH , , - , Total ,

New York

In the state of New York, US 4 begins at the concurrency of

US 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, betwe ...

and

US 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

in East Greenbush. Heading northward, it has an interchange with I-90, continuing northward into

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

. In Troy, it passes by

Hudson Valley Community College Hudson Valley Community College is a public community college in Troy, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). Although about eighty percent of the students are from the Capital District, the remainder are from other par ...

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 The Collar City Bridge (also known as the Hoosick Street Bridge) carries NYS Route 7 (NY 7) across the Hudson River connecting Colonie, New York with Troy, by way of passing over Green Island. Though the northern terminus of Interstate ...

and into Lansingburgh. After Lansingburgh, US 4 turns left to cross the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

on the Troy-Waterford Bridge, entering

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, joining with

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 regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with ...

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 Schuylerville () is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The village is located in the northeastern part of the Town of Saratoga, east of Saratoga Springs. The Village of Victory is adjacent to Schuylerville to the southwes ...

, after which US 4 splits off to cross the Hudson one last time. Running parallel to the Champlain Canal, US 4 passes through villages including Fort Edward, Hudson Falls, Fort Ann and

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

. After a concurrency with NY 22, US 4 heads eastward into

Vermont

In the state of

, 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 U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States highway in western New England that runs for through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 95 (I-95) exit 1 ...

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 The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is i ...

, passing by Killington, going through

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

and Quechee, crossing the Quechee Gorge, and meeting

US 5 U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Spring ...

I-89 Interstate 89 (I-89) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States traveling from Bow, New Hampshire, to the Canadian border between Highgate Springs, Vermont, and Saint-Armand, Quebec. As with all odd-numbered ...

, and

I-91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connecti ...

White River Junction White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest co ...

. Crossing the Connecticut River, US 4 enters New Hampshire.

New Hampshire

In the state of

, US 4 passes through

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, meeting I-89 again. It then heads southeast to Boscawen, where it briefly overlaps

US 3 U.S. Route 3 (US 3) is a United States highway running from Cambridge, Massachusetts, through New Hampshire, to the Canada–US border near Third Connecticut Lake, where it connects to Quebec Route 257. Massachusetts Route 3 connects t ...

before joining

I-93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...

into

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

. Turning east, US 4 briefly overlaps

I-393 Interstate 393 (I-393) is a east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway extending from I-93 at Concord to Pembroke, New Hampshire. The primary purpose of the road is to bypass a densely built commercial strip on New Hampshire Route 9 (NH&nb ...

and for a longer stretch with

US 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massa ...

. Passing through

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, US 4 joins the

Spaulding Turnpike The Spaulding Turnpike is a north-south toll road in eastern New Hampshire. Nearly its entire length is overlapped by New Hampshire Route 16. Its southern terminus is at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle (Interstate 95 / U.S. Route 1 Bypass) in Por ...

at Dover Point and travels southeast to its eastern terminus in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

at the

Portsmouth Traffic Circle The Portsmouth Traffic Circle is a four-point rotary in the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Description The southern exit of the circle provides access to Interstate 95 north and south, although only northbound I-95 traffic enters here. The e ...

History

Prior to being designated US 4, the road from

Whitehall, New York Whitehall is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 4,035 at the 2000 census. The Town of Whitehall contains a village also named Whitehall. Hi ...

eastward through Vermont was New England Interstate Route 13 (NE-13). From the Vermont-New Hampshire state line to

Franklin, New Hampshire Franklin is a city in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 8,741, the least of New Hampshire's 13 cities. Franklin includes the village of West Franklin. History Situated at the confluence of th ...

, it was the eastern extension of NE-14. From Franklin to Concord, New Hampshire it used NE-6 (now

), and from Concord to

Northwood, New Hampshire Northwood is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,641 at the 2020 census. History First settled in 1763, Northwood was incorporated on February 6, 1773 by colonial governor John Wentworth, when a l ...

it used NE-9 (now NH-9). Between Northwood and

Dover, New Hampshire Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,741 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in the New Hampshire Seacoast region and the fifth largest municipality in the state. It is the county se ...

, 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 Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...

at the point where

split into US 9W and 9E, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
1930–:

, following former US 9E, through its former west terminus, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Major intersections

;New York : in East Greenbush : north of East Greenbush ;Vermont : in the Town of Rutland. The highways travel concurrently to the City of Rutland. : in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

: in Hartford. The highways travel concurrently to

. ;New Hampshire : in

: in Lebanon : in Boscawen. The highways travel concurrently through the city. : in

. The highways travel concurrently through the city. : in Concord. I-393/US 4 travel concurrently to Pembroke. US 3/US 202 travel concurrently to Northwood. : in

References

External links

Endpoints of US 4
{{Authority control 04