New York State Route 49

State highway in central New York, US
East of the hamlet of Constantia, the highway begins to parallel the north shore of Oneida Lake. As the lakeside roadway, NY 49 provides access to both Bernhards Bay and Cleveland, two communities situated on the northern edge of the lake, before crossing into Oneida County and intersecting with NY 13 at the northeast corner of Oneida Lake in the town of Vienna. Here, NY 13 joins NY 49, overlapping the route to the hamlet of Vienna. While NY 13 heads north toward Camden, NY 49 continues eastward, loosely paralleling Fish Creek and the Erie Canal as it heads through rural Oneida County. In 1927, NY 11 was renumbered to NY 76 to eliminate duplication with the new US 11. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY 76 was broken up and incorporated into several other routes. From Rome to Marcy, the former routing of NY 76 became an extension of NY 49. The route then continued eastward along River Road to a new terminus at Genesee Street (then NY 5, NY 8, and NY 12) in Utica. On its western end, NY 49 was extended over a previously unnumbered roadway to Volney, where it ended at NY 3C (now NY 3). NY 49 once extended westward into downtown Fulton by way of an overlap with NY 3; however, this overlap was eliminated by 1970. In 1953, there were 32 accidents of varying degrees along the portion of NY 49 between Rome and Utica. The rash of incidents, coupled with a two car collision that killed five people in December 1953, led the state Department of Public Works to investigate potential safety issues with the road. Although the study attributed virtually all of the accidents to poor driver judgment, it also noted that the corridor's traffic volume had exceeded the road's capacity. One suggested remedy was the construction of a new highway between Rome and Carey's Corners, NY 49's junction with NY 12C (now NY 291). Plans for the road, which ultimately became the Utica–Rome Expressway, were developed over the next three years and first publicly presented in January 1957. The highway connected to NY 12C and River Road at Carey's Corners by way of a cloverleaf interchange, the first of its kind in the vicinity of Utica. The estimated cost of the new road was $6.962 million (equivalent to $ in ). Construction on the road began in the late 1950s, and was completed in 1960 as part of a rerouted NY 49. At the time, the expressway began at what is now the Griffiss Air Force Base interchange east of Rome. An extension of the freeway southwest to NY 365 south of downtown Rome was opened in 1980, at which time it, as well as another arterial leading southeast from Rome, became part of NY 49. In 1990, an interchange was constructed between Edic Road and the North–South Arterial (NY 5/8/12 and I 790) as part of a larger reconfiguration of the area surrounding New York State Thruway exit 31. Two one way highways along the Thruway between Edic Road and the Arterial were also built as part of the project. The $60 million highway (equivalent to $ in ) was officially opened to traffic on October 23, 2003, The total cost of the Utica–Rome Expressway was $175 million (equivalent to $ in ).

On October 11, 2002, a pedestrian bridge meant to connect a residential area to Whitesboro High School, under construction across the expressway in Marcy twisted and collapsed, killing one worker and injuring nine more. A machine was screeding the concrete deck, starting from the north end and moving south. As it reached the midpoint, the bridge suddenly twisted and collapsed onto the expressway beneath. Workers had noted that the bridge had seemed noticeably "bouncy" leading up to the incident. Investigators found that the most likely reason for collapse was lateral torsional buckling. The under construction expressway and bridge were not open to the public at the time of collapse.

There are efforts within NYSDOT to renumber NY Routes 49 and 365 (from Utica to Thruway Exit 33 in the Town of Verona) 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 11 mile (18 km) 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.