Transportation Highlights

Cortland County provides easy access to main transportation routes and major markets via air, rail or surface transportation.

Highway distance from Cortland

Highways

Major highways out of Cortland County provide outlets to markets across the US and Canada. In addition, Cortland County has easy connections to I-90, I-88 and NYS Route 17 (soon to become I-86). Interstate 81 runs through the County, connecting to the Canadian border and Virginia, and links directly to the New York State Thruway, a superhighway spanning all of New York State from Buffalo to New York City.

Major highways through the County include:

• US 11, Interstate 81 and NYS Route 281, extending north-south
• NYS Route 13 extending northeast-southwest

Bus service from Cortland is available to the continental United States and Canada.

Air Transportation

• Cortland County Airport with a 3,400 ft. paved and lighted runway is suited for private planes and limited commercial flights, and also has A&E and charter service available to anywhere in the United States and Canada; a major capital investment plan is in place for the airport
• Cortland County is also served by three major airports with daily scheduled continental and intercontinental flights:
  • Hancock International Airport, Syracuse, NY, with a 9,500 ft. runway -- 35 miles north
  • Broome County Airport, Binghamton, NY -- 35 miles south
  • Tompkins County Airport, Ithaca, NY -- 15 miles west
    
    

Rail Transportation

Rail shippers have a distinct advantage in Cortland County. The County is served by the Delaware & Otsego Corporation, and as a result of the Conrail disposition, D&O will directly interchange with three Class I shippers: CSX, NS and the D&H. New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad, which provides rail freight service, is an active business development partner with the CCBDC. Unique to the County is the Team Track located in the City of Cortland which acts as a cooperative truck transfer area for companies not located on the rail line. The Cortland County IDA, working with NYS&W Railroad and the NYSDOT, just completed a $44 million multi-modal facility.

The Cortland County IDA is working directly with the rail companies and the NYS DOT on major capital investment programs for the rail line that runs through Cortland County, which has been designated as a critical linkage in the State's transportation system by the NYS DOT. The New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway is undertaking a multi-million-dollar renovation project to rehabilitate its branch that runs through Cortland County.