A driver's history of the New York State Thruway

The Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway is the fifth-busiest toll road in the United States, and its entire length is patrolled by members of troop F of the New York State Police. With one road to focus on, these state troopers are often very good at writing speeding tickets.

Dating back to the 1950s, the Thruway has always been a toll road. Driving through the Hudson Valley used to involve taking a ticket from your starting point to the toll booth at the end of your trip, with the toll taker billing you accordingly. Now, it’s all done with EZ-Pass and high-speed cameras. Those tolls originally paid for the construction, which massively changed the economies and landscapes of the state. One notable example in this area is Storm King Wavefield, an art installation reclaimed from one of the many gravel pits dug to support this massive public works project.

As a result of the Thruway’s existence, travelers often know little or nothing about the towns through which they are driving. One exception to this is when you’re pulled over by one of those state troopers, and given a ticket. These are all handled in local traffic courts, in villages like Chestnut Ridge, Harriman, Hillburn, Montebello, Sloatsburg, Spring Valley, Suffern, Tuxedo Park, Walden, and West Haverstraw; towns like Athens, Bethlehem, Catskill, Coeymans, Cornwall, Coxsackie, Esopus, Gardiner, Kingston, Lloyd, Marlborough, Monroe, New Baltimore, New Paltz, New Windsor, Newburgh, Plattekill, Ramapo, Rosendale, Saugerties, Tuxedo, Ulster, and Woodbury; and cities including Albany, Kingston, and Newburgh. I go to all of these courts, and some of them are incredibly busy based on Thruway tickets alone.

Now part of the Eisenhower Interstate System, the Thruway is a road that was designed for speed. However, the troopers patrolling it might tell you there’s a difference between speed and speeding. If you’ve been given a ticket for speeding or any other traffic violation along this portion of the New York State Thruway, contact Selby Legal for fair-minded, fairly-priced representation. You won’t have to drive to court from New York City, or Albany, or wherever you live, and you can rest easy knowing that you’ll get the best possible outcome under my care.