BMW 535d Review: The Olympic Drive to Lake Placid, N.Y. – The Diesel Driver – The Joy of Diesel Driving

Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, N.Y.

After leaving the Ritz-Carlton we headed towards Interstate 287, a highway that serves as a partial beltway around New York City’s northern outskirts. We remained on I-287 for a mere 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) as it was the fastest way of getting onto Interstate 87. Despite its designation, Interstate 87 is a 333.5-mile (536.7-kilometer) highway located entirely within the state of New York. The lower portion of I-87 that runs from the Bronx-Westchester border to Albany is also known the New York State Thruway.

Interstate 87 begins in the Bronx, as the Major Deegan Expressway, north of the Triborough Bridge (the relatively recent name change to Robert F. Kennedy Bridge hasn’t been widely adopted by New Yorkers, and only a handful of road signs refer to it by its new official name, confusing those not familiar with its dual personality). I-87 runs north through the Hudson Valley, the Capital District, and on to the Canadian border at the town of Champlain.

The Thruway is comprised of six distinct segments, for a total of 570 miles (917 kilometers). The main toll section of the Thruway runs for 496 miles (798 kilometers) starting at the New York City line where the Major Deegan Expressway ends, and continues to the Pennsylvania state line after passing through Albany (at which point it becomes Interstate 90), Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. It is reportedly the fifth busiest toll road in the United States.

Crossing the Tappen Zee Bridge

We almost immediately crossed over the Tappan Zee Bridge, at 16,013 feet (4,881 meters) the longest bridge in New York State and a component of the New York Thruway. The bridge, which opened to traffic in 1955, connects Westchester County with Rockland County and will be decommissioned in 2016, when the first span of a new dual-span Tappan Zee Bridge opens to traffic.

We continued on I-87 for 245 miles (394 kilometers), a leisurely drive that took, with two stops, approximately four hours. At exit 30, we exited I-87, which is called Adirondack Northway north of Albany, for US-9, a road that spans 325 miles (523 kilometers) from the George Washington Bridge, which connects northern Manhattan to Fort Lee, New Jersey), to the U.S.-Canadian border at the town of Champlain.

We only stayed on US-9 for 0.2 miles (0.32 kilometers) and immediately got on New York State Route 73, which extends for 27.6 miles (44.4 kilometers) and meanders through the Adirondacks from Elizabethtown, New York, to the village of Lake Placid, our destination. Another four miles (6.4 kilometers) took us to our destination, the Whiteface Inn.

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