Region 7 Photos - The Upstate N.Y. Roads Site

NYSDOT Region 7 includes Clinton, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties. Use the map above to choose another region.

Photo Description	Photographer	Date
Interstate 81 Exit 42 guide panel . Region 7 replaced the majority of guide signs along Interstate 81 in the late 1990s in two different contracts. Notice the use of Series E(m) for the "42". I think the numbers look better this way.	J.P. Wing	2007-08-03
Fort Drum secondary panel along Interstate 81 . Region 7 gives the soldiers and their families at Fort Drum the respect they deserve.	J.P. Wing	2007-08-03
Interstate 81 Exit 49 advance interchange guide panel . Another sign that was part of the Region 7 sign rehab project of the late 90s or early 2000s. This one was part of the second contract, notice the exit number is in Series E, as opposed to the Series E(m) used for the exit panel shown above for Exit 42. Region 7's design for these signs is top notch.	J.P. Wing	2007-08-03
NY Route 26 guide panel . This sign is found outside of Theresa. The letters look a little larger than the specs call but there's no harm done.	J.P. Wing	2007-08-03
NY Routes 26 and 126 directional markers in West Carthage . This installation looks to be fairly new and here's another variation on the New York State 3-digit route marker. At least this one looks right in that the "hump" is the same size as it's 2-digit counterpart. I like the look.	J.P. Wing	2007-08-03
NY Route 421 marker. NY Route 421 marker in Franklin County at it's eastern terminus with NY Route 30.	Adam Prince	April 16, 2005
Reference Route 971V. A typical NYSDOT reference route marker. This one is on old NY 283 between Felts Mills and Black River.	Larry Feller	October 2006
Reference Route 971V 'trailblazer' . Found eastbound on reference route 971V.	Larry Feller	October 2006
Reference Route 971V 'trailblazer' . This one is found westbound on the same route, old NY 283 between Felts Mills and Black River.	Larry Feller	October 2006
Reference Route 971V trailblazer close-up . Here's a closeup of one of the trailblazers. I can't decide if this was installed by NYSDOT or some other authority. The "Rte." abbreviation is making me lean toward NYSDOT.	Larry Feller	October 2006
NY 442 in Peru. Confirmation sign assembly complete with markers leading to a ferry to Vermont.	Adam Prince	July 2006
Distance to Canada sign, Jefferson County . There's a story behind this sign. In 1986, NYSDOT did a sign rehab for all of Interstate 81 in Jefferson County. During this rehab, they installed several distance signs, including "1000 Islands Bridge 19 / Canada 25" just north of Exit 47. When they replaced all the signs again in the late 1990s, they took down all the distance signs, with the exception of one, and didn't replace them. I wrote a letter to NYSDOT Region 7 explaining the importance of distance signs along Interstate 81, especially since NYSDOT chooses not to use distance-based exit numbers. I received a very courteous reply from NYSDOT. This sign is a result of my letter.	J.P. Wing	01.24.2004
Village of Turin, NY 26, Lewis County. Region 7 knows how to make a road geek happy. Here's what the signs introducing you to a village should look like, with a nice mixed-case village name. Much better than the all-caps variation so common throughout the state. Actually, I believe this is an older style. I don't know why NYSDOT doesn't do this as the norm, instead of the exception.	Earl Cochran	05.14.2005
Whetstone State Park, NY 26, Lewis County . More Region 7 mixed case goodness.	J.P. Wing	05.14.2005
I-81 Exit 40, Jefferson County. Region 7 recently replaced a good share of their signage. Here's a sample. This sign is perfect in my road geek standards. The all-caps legend is FHWA Series E, the destinations are FHWA Series E Modified and the route shield numbers are FHWA Series F. By the book.	J.P. Wing	05.14.2005
45th Parallel, St Lawrence County . This sign is found in Robert Moses State Park, near Massena. I believe it was installed by NYSDOT.	J.P. Wing	01.24.2004
I-81 Exits 50N-S Advance Signage, Jefferson County . An example of typical exit signage in Region 7 along Interstate 81. This exit was originally numbered 50A-B, but was changed to the N-S configuration some time after 1982 when the service logo signs went up.	Earl Cochran	01.24.2004
I-81 Exit 45, Jefferson County. This sign was installed in the late 1990s. For some reason it is in a very old format, with the centered exit tab and all capital letters. All that is missing is a "N Y 3" in lieu of the Route 3 shield!	Earl Cochran	01.24.2004
Orleans Rest Area signage, Interstate 81, Jefferson County . Advance sign for the Rest Area just south of the 1000 Islands Bridge on Interstate 81. All the rest areas on I-81 (and in New York State, for that matter), have a name based upon their location, even though they aren't posted on the signs. This one is in the Town of Orleans. Small bit of trivia - this Rest Area has a 911/postal address. Something close to 38749 US Interstate Route 81.	Earl Cochran	01.24.2004
State Parks sign, Jefferson County . This sign is just north of Exit 38 on I-81. As I-81 travels along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, there are many state parks.	Earl Cochran	01.24.2004
N Y 374 in Plattsburgh, Clinton County . At the eastern end of N Y 374, overhead gantry with all-text signs including an "all caps" road name. The "all caps" road name practice has been around for a long time, it's just recently that some NYSDOT regions have been adding boxes around the road name.	Earl Cochran	March '02
Exit 37, I-87, Plattsburgh, Clinton County . NYSDOT Region has installed a good number of English/French signs up near the New York - Québec border. Here's one of the exit signs on I-87.	Earl Cochran	March '02
Exit 37, I-87, Plattsburgh, Clinton County . A bilingual service sign.	Earl Cochran	March '02
A new assembly on NY 131, St Lawrence County . This is near the entrance to Robert Moses State Park. Notice the odd shape of the route shield.	J.P. Wing	August 2000
N Y 11 and N Y 68, St Lawrence County . Notice the difference between the two NY 68 shields. Also, that NY 11 sign should be a US 11 sign. A couple of NY 11 signs turn up throughout the state.	J.P. Wing	August 2000
U S 2, U S 11, N Y 9B, Clinton County . A very interesting choice of control cities, wouldn't you say? This is at the end of US 2 at US 11, just north of Rouses Point. We're less than a mile from the New York-Quebec border. The cut off shield at the top is for US 11 South. Notice there's no "NORTH" listed, however, US 11 does technically go all the way to the customs station.	J.P. Wing
I-81 Exit 45, N Y 3 Watertown, Jefferson County . Here's an exit sign for Exit 45 on Interstate 81 in Watertown. The original NY 3 shield had fallen off and it was replaced by a standard "reassurance" shield until the whole assembly could be replaced (which it has). The bottom sign says "Downtown 2", indicating that Downtown Watertown is 2 miles from the exit I guess. It's kind of an odd way to indicate the exit is for Downtown. By the way, the new sign says "NY 3/Arsenal Street/Sackets Harbor". When this exit was originally signed during the initial construction of I-81, it was signed as "N Y 3/Watertown/Sackets Harbor". The Arsenal Street designation wasn't indicated until the mid 80s.	Earl Cochran
N Y 26 / N Y 812 directions in Lowville, Lewis County . Here we have a sign found on N Y 12 NORTH as you are headed into the Village of Lowville. What's odd about it is that you are about 2 miles from the intersection of N Y 12 and N Y 812, and you rarely see "ROUTE" written out in all text like that these days, it's usually a route shield or "N Y ".	Earl Cochram	March '01
I-81 / ON 401 shields, Jefferson County . This one is found on Interstate 81 NORTH (obviously), just north of Exit 46 in Watertown. Beginning here, you see the "To ON 401" markers sporadically, and more frequently as you get closer to the border. It's kind of odd that this sign is on it's own post, and that it doesn't have cross beams (also known as Z-Bars) to rest on like most NYSDOT installed signs, it's installed directly on the post. I think the sign was provided by the Province of Ontario.	Earl Cochran	March '01
I-81 Exit 50S Rest Area. This sign is about 2 miles AFTER a brand new rest area on Interstate 81 NORTH between Exits 49 and 50. This sign is older than the rest area.	Earl Cochran	March '01
Last U S Exit. The last exit on I-81 NORTH before entering the customs area. Exit 51 and Exit 52 are both on Wellesley Island. Another example of the new "border around the road name" on guide signs, plus "Last U S Exit" is usually on a separate sign, but it's listed as a control city on all of the signs for this exit.	Earl Cochran	March '01
U S Mainland directional sign . The control city of "U S Mainland" is found all over Wellesley Island. I found it quite interesting.	Earl Cochran	March '01
Vintage Interstate 81 sign. Well here is an installation from the original building of Interstate 81. This sign assembly is found outside of Wellesley Island State Park. The date on the back of it said something like ?/6?, we couldn't make out the rest of it.	Earl Cochran	March '01
Clayton / Cape Vincent button copy sign . I remember seeing this sign as a kid back in the early 80s and thinking that it was neat. Reason it's neat is because we are on a regular 2-lane stretch of highway (about 500 feet past a stretch of divided highway). You'd usually find smaller, all caps signage on this stretch. This type would usually be used for expressway type roads. Plus, it's button copy! I'm glad it was still there. Pretty cool.	Earl Cochran	March '01