Auburn Branch underpass at Thruway

Here is a question for you upstate New York NYC fans: Did the Auburn Branch pass under or over the NYS Thruway? If an underpass, was it a bridge or a tunnel-like structure? Has this been replaced with a fill? For all the years I was in the area I simply cannot recall the specifics.

The Thruway went over the Auburn Road, somewhere about Thruway MP 351. I think there is a "sticky" on the NYS forum which discusses the Thruway and railroad crossings thereof. I believe it was a regular bridge and think - but not positive - it's been filled in. That's a lot of "maybe"s but hopefully someone else can give positive details.

The Thruway overpass is still intact with a trail on the former ROW below, it's pretty easy to spot when traveling the Thruway in either direction.

Pretty sure, though, that the NYS highway folks don't like to maintain bridges over trails. On I-81 they replaced a bridge with a culvert on the Rivergate Trail (former NYC line to Clayton).

They maintain multiple bridges over trails on the Thruway in the Rochester area - from e to w, former NYC, former LV, former PRR (which was redone in the last couple years), plus another closer to Utica over the former NYO&W Rome branch which is also a trail. The only ones I'm aware of being filled in are at Phelps over the former PRR, and a former West Shore crossing near the Herkimer/Mohawk exit. Which is not to say there's not others, but there's more still maintained than filled in.

The Auburn Branch underpass at the Thruway is in Fishers, NY, a hamlet in the town of Victor, NY, roughly at milepost 352. On Google Maps it is at Longitude 43.013858,Latitude -77.469428. Photos of the Auburn Road in Fishers can be found at http://www.friendsoftherailroad.org, look under Old Railroad Images.

Could it be that they maintain bridges over "railbanked" trails in case the rails were ever laid again?