Ed C wrote:
You could take I/88 just past Albany to US/17 which changes to I/86 to I/79 to I/80 to I/71 to I/70.
I think US17 is finally now called I-86 pretty much all the way from Binghamton west now. I-88 to I-86 to I-90 to I-271 to I-71 to US30 looks reasonable to me and I believe avoids all the tolls except maybe for a bit getting to I-88, depending how one goes. If you take the NY Thruway specifically from I-87 to I-88 or vice-versa there is no toll charged; from other points around Albany one could also use other roads rather than I-90.
I-88 and I-86 are definitely a little more rural than I-90 through New York. You do have some urban driving in Binghamton but miss out on that near Buffalo, so that part of things is maybe a wash; the other cities that I-90 goes through or near don't really have much in the way of city driving per se on the Thruway.
