I-790 begins at an interchange connecting NY 5A and NY 5S to the North–South Arterial on the northern edge of the city of Utica. The route heads northeast from this point, overlapping with NY 5, NY 8, and NY 12 along a six-lane limited-access highway leading away from downtown. As the road leaves the NY 5A and NY 5S junction, it crosses over the CSX Transportation's Mohawk Subdivision rail line, which runs along the northern edge of the interchange. Past the tracks, the dense commercial and residential blocks that comprise downtown Utica give way to a mostly undeveloped strip of land surrounding the Mohawk River and Erie Canal. I-790 continues on a northeasterly track across the open area, crossing the Mohawk River and an abandoned railroad grade just north of the waterway. As I-790 crosses the Erie Canal, it enters a complex interchange built around the New York State Thruway. While NY 8 and NY 12 continue north through the junction, I-790 and NY 5 exit to the southeast, leaving NY 8 and NY 12 to meet NY 49 adjacent to the Thruway. The two directions of NY 49 are physically split by the Thruway; while the eastbound direction runs along the southern edge of the Thruway, the westbound half flanks the Thruway's westbound lanes. East of the interchange, I-790 and NY 5 take over NY 49's split right-of-way, following an identical configuration for about through Utica's northern suburbs. I-790 continues east along the Thruway to the exit with northbound Genesee Street, where the Interstate Highway designation ends and the highways adjacent to the Thruway become solely designated as NY 5. While I-790 eastbound has an exit leading directly to exit 31 of the Thruway, Utica's only exit along the highway, there is no direct connection from exit 31 to I-790 westbound. Instead, I-790 westbound uses part of Genesee Street to get between the I-90 interchange and the highways carrying NY 5 along the Thruway.
History
The portion of the North–South Arterial between Oriskany Street and River Road was completed in the late 1950s. By 1961, a two-lane, limited-access highway was constructed along the south side of the New York State Thruway between the Arterial and Thruway exit 31. The road left the Arterial just north of the Erie Canal and had one intermediate interchange with Genesee Street before connecting directly to I-90 at exit 31. The two-lane connector and the section of the North–South Arterial between Oriskany Street and the connector was designated as I-790 by 1965. The connector was rebuilt as a four-lane freeway that straddles I-90. The direct connection from I-90 to I-790 was eliminated at this time, necessitating the use of surface streets and passing through traffic lights for traffic to reach I-790.
Future
There are efforts within NYSDOT to renumber NY Routes 49 and 365 to NY Route 790, with the eventual plan of renumbering it again as an extension of I-790. The cost for the conversion to Interstate standards is estimated to be between $150 million and $200 million. U.S. Representative Michael Arcuri introduced legislation in July 2010 that would redesignate the portion of NY 49 from the North–South Arterial in Utica to NY 825 in Rome as part of I-790. The conversion is expected to cost between $1.5 and $2 million, which would be used to install new signage along the expressway. By adding the Utica–Rome Expressway to the Interstate Highway System, the area would receive approximately $10 million in additional federal highway funding over the next five years. According to Arcuri, the proposed redesignation is part of a larger, long-term goal of creating an Interstate Highway-standard freeway that would begin at Thruway exit 33 in Verona and pass through Rome before ending at Thruway exit 31. The portion of NY 49 east of NY 825 already meets Interstate Highway standards.
