A long-running Capital Region joke is now over thanks to an announcement made by Governor Cuomo today.

As you probably noticed if you’ve been on the Northway (I-87) lately, we’re getting a new bridge and a new exit that makes travel to the Albany International Airport a little more direct.

If you’re new to the area or maybe missed the joke altogether, we have an Exit 2E/2W and Exit 4 but we never had an Exit 3. There were plans to create an Exit 3 in the past but for a few reason, it ended up falling through and the longest running out-of-towner prank was born (Don’t tell me you’ve never told someone to ‘get off at Exit 3’ to make them confused).

Last we heard with this new update, it was just going to be another piece of Exit 4 and Exit 3 was still never going to get its day. Well, according to the Times Union, it seems as if Governor Cuomo changed his plans and Exit 3 was born!

At a press conference today, the Governor not only updated LaGuardia Airport, created a new bridge bringing the Thruway over the Hudson River, but announced an Exit 3. The way it will work is that Northbound, “the short northbound off-ramp to Wolf Road remaining in place…will carry the Exit 3 northbound off ramp over the Northway to Albany Shaker Road” and Southbound “a newly configured Exit 4 off ramp from the Northway will connect to old Wolf Road. The rest of the interchange will now be Exit 3.”

50 years later, Northway gets an Exit 3. Read our story: https://t.co/kj5GHEv1nO pic.twitter.com/RJIlK30DWW

— Times Union (@timesunion) July 9, 2019