New Exit Signs on the Taconic to be Unveiled

CHAPPAQUA, NY — New exit signs will be unveiled by Wednesday on the Taconic State Parkway in Westchester County, and one in New Castle will send motorists off to Millwood and Chappaqua.

The new signs, which are numbered based on the distance from the beginning of the parkway to each grade-separated interchange, rather than in consecutive order, are expected to be uncovered by Dec. 21, New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Matthew J. Driscoll today announced.

The parkway, one of the state's earliest scenic highways, runs from Kensico Circle to the Massachusetts Turnpike, roughly paralleling the Hudson River — a major artery for Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties, and a heavily-traveled road for local commuters as well as vacationers going back and forth between New York, the Berkshires and New England.

The Taconic was recently called the deadliest road in New York. Designed to be scenic, for cars traveling much slower than today's usual speeds, it has two narrow lanes in each direction for much of its length and no shoulders to speak of.

The new signs are part of an approximately $12 million project to replace and upgrade signage along the 105 miles of the parkway.

Following the new numbering order, for example, the exit to State Routes 100 and 133 is now Exit 8, because it is eight miles from the start of the Parkway at the traffic circle near the Kensico Dam Plaza in Westchester County.

Additional signage upgrades include: adding enhanced “One Way,” “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way” signs at ramps and intersecting roads; replacing or adding street name and intersection warning signs at all at-grade intersections; and installing “Passenger Cars Only” and “Maximum Height 10’0” ” to signs on Parkway approaches, in order to discourage drivers of over-height vehicles from entering.

Sign upgrades will also improve daytime and nighttime visibility.

Construction work is being done in two stages. The first stage includes the signs in Westchester County and southern Putnam County (as far north as Dring Lane). The second stage will complete the signing improvements on the Parkway in Putnam, Dutchess and Columbia counties. Work on the first stage is anticipated to be completed by the summer of 2017.

Construction for the second stage of the project is expected to begin during the 2017 construction season.

For up-to-date travel information, call 511 or visit www.511NY.org.

ALSO READ: Taconic State Parkway Outed As Deadliest Road in New York

PHOTO/ Phillip Capper via Wikimedia Commons