Hopkins-Bowser Highway

While it is the shortest two-digit Interstate in the "Keystone State," Interstate 86 also has another unique feature.  It is the only Interstate to begin, leave, and again enter Pennsylvania as it dips south of the New York state line in South Waverly.  Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, New York was upgrading NY 17 from a two-lane highway into an expressway with some at-grade intersections in parts.  The reason for the detour into the Commonwealth was to save $2 million and some industries in Waverly, New York.

New York State Department of Transportation's original plan was to have the expressway built on the right of way of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in South Waverly, but it would have impacted some plants, such as the Waverly Creamery, and would be a costly expenditure to replace tracks of the merged Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad-Erie Railroad tracks.  In 1966, legislatures of both states approved the move with New York guaranteeing they would maintain the roadway.  Issues such as differing construction standards and engineering practices had to be worked out between the two states.  Under the agreement, Pennsylvania purchased the rights of way and obtained easements and was reimbursed by New York state.

Construction began in 1971 on the entire Pennsylvania segment of NY 17 through Bradford County.  Work included moving the South Waverly Water Company facilities which was done by New York.  The following year, the expressway opened from US 220 eastward into New York, and in 1973, the section from US 220 westward into New York opened to traffic.

The path of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad line that was proposed to be used by NY 17.  It was used from the state line to the bend near South Waverly, and the remainder of the old right-of-way back into New York can be seen.  (USGS)

Since its opening, New York State Police have patrol this section of the highway.  If an offense is observed or an accident occurs, New York police take the initial action until Pennsylvania police arrive.  All accidents and arrests are accounted for in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  The New York State Department of Transportation maintains the roadway as evidenced by the road signs and even the traffic signals at the US 220 interchange where they are hung from span wires, unlike in Pennsylvania where they are done so from mast arms, but they are at least yellow unlike the New York state standard dark-gray signals.

Pennsylvania would not begin construction on the section of expressway which would come to bear the PA 17 designation, in order to keep consistent with New York even though it duplicated the currently-signed PA 17 in the middle of the state, in 1986.  The following year, the section from Interstate 90 to PA 89 opened to traffic, and in 1988, the remainder to the New York state line opened.  Originally built as a two-lane, limited-access expressway on a four-lane right of way, work began in 1996 building the westbound lanes which opened on October 7, 1997.

Sign warning of two-way traffic at the beginning of then PA 17 in the mid-1990s.  (John Krakoff)

In September 1998, PennDOT submitted paperwork to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to establish Interstate 86 along the PA 17 alignment, in conjunction with New York's application for NY 17 which they had submitted a month earlier.  The requests were approved by the AASHTO Special Committee on Route Numbering on November 6 and the Standing Committee on Highways a day later at AASHTO's annual meeting in Boston.  The Interstate 86 markers would not replace PA 17's until December 3, 1999, when the designation became official.

On the morning of December 4, 2018, a truck traveling westbound from New York into Pennsylvania began losing its load.  Around 4 AM, the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office received a call about calves wandering along the roadway near the Town of Sherman.  Five injured calves were found in New York and taken in by a local farmer, while another three were found in Pennsylvania.

This is one of three Interstates which traverse Pennsylvania that has a "twin" in the western part of the country.  That Interstate 86 runs between Pocatello and Heyburn, Idaho.

Page updated July 29, 2026.
Content and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright © Jeffrey J. Kitsko.  All rights reserved.
Information courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, WICU-TV/WSEE-TV Erie, and the Gettysburg Times.