construction on a new limited-access highway through the town of colonie between i-87 and i-787 began in the early 1980s. the roadway, known as "ny 7 alternate", was built north of ny 7 on an alignment that paralleled the original surface route. however, when it opened in december 1985, it became a realignment of ny 7 instead. ny 7's former surface routing from i-87 in latham to us 4 in troy became a westward extension of ny 2.