Noticeable New York Highway Sign Swap Out Happens Without Notice

I have been traveling west on Route 17 from Orange to Sullivan County pretty much all of my driving life and I somehow have missed both of these signs.

Did You Know That The Sullivan County Sign Was Changed Out

I am known as a roadside watcher. I try not to do it while I am the driver. As a passenger though I am constantly looking out the window for site and road signs. At the end of 2024 one noticeable landmark was replaced and honestly, I hadn't noticed.

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It took a Facebook video posted by Sullivan County of their Department of Public Works team hanging the new sign for me to notice. Driving on Route 17 I saw signs that said Sullivan County but for some reason, this one did not look familiar.

I hit up Google Maps to see the exact location which I was able to decipher from the end of the video. The sign is right at the Shawangunk Kill as you approach exit 115 drive west of course.

A New Sign Installed at the Sullivan - Orange County Boarder Heading West

Still stopped as to how I never noticed the sign I rewatched the installation video and that is when I saw that the wood sign they replaced was only 25 years old. Put up I guess sometime around 2000.

Once I had that nugget of information it all became clear as to why I never noticed the sign or the one they switched out. I moved out of Orange County in 1997, first to Poughkeepsie and then to Ulster County in 2003. That move meant I no longer took 17 K to Route 17  which got me on at exit 116.

Now when I travel to Sullivan County I use 44/55 and Route 209 South which means I have been getting on Route 17 five miles after the sign for at least the last 25 years

Sullivan County Gets New Welcome Sign on Route 17 / Interstate 86

The new sign is 12 feet by 6 feet and required trees to be trimmed so it wasn't being blocked. The shrubs they trimmed could be another reason people didn't see the sign. The new sign is lit and is also reflective.

Route 17 has been undergoing many changes over the past few decades one of which is the change over to Interstate 86. Some of Route 17 out in the western parts of New York has already been changed over to its new designation Interstate 86. That designation will eventually happen for the entire length of Route 17 but the upgrade to Interstate status requires parts of the highway to be upgraded and that takes time.