Why Have Exit Numbers on Interstate 84 Changed?

So you are driving along, looking for the Lime Kiln Road exit on Interstate 84 in Dutchess County but that familiar exit 15 is not there. Wait a minute. Are you seeking things?

A new sign announces it is exit 50. How did it jump from 15 to 50, you ask?

The State Department of Transportation is conforming to federal highway standards and instead of just numbering exits consecutively, they are being changed to indicate the actual mileage from the starting point to your location.

In the case of I-84 in New York, which travels from the Pennsylvania line through Orange County, over to Dutchess County and then Putnam County, to Connecticut, exits are being renumbered to indicate the distance from Pennsylvania.

So, in the case of the Lime Kiln Road exit, “50” indicates it is 50 miles from the Pennsylvania border.

The New York DOT has renumbered starting at the Connecticut line and going backwards from Putnam through Dutchess and to the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. So, the last exit in Dutchess just before the bridge used to be 11 and now it is 41.

Confused yet?

Sign renumbering in Orange County will begin later this month and because of the number of exits, the complete changeover could take through the end of the year, DOT officials said.
Of all the exits, the only one that will remain the same is exit 1 at Port Jervis, one mile from the Delaware River, the border between New York and Pennsylvania.

The mileage system has been in place for many years in Pennsylvania.

Got it now? Still confused? See the chart above.