I-690 begins at a double trumpet interchange with the New York State Thruway (I-90) in the town of Van Buren.

The six-lane, fully-shouldered limited-access highway continues north toward Baldwinsville as NY 690 while I-690 travels east from the junction.

After crossing and connecting with State Fair Boulevard at exit 2, I-690 runs along the western shore of Onondaga Lake, passing under many pedestrian bridges.

The highway serves the New York State Fairgrounds by way of exits 4 and 5, the former a large directional T interchange with NY 695.

Construction began in 2019 and finished in 2020 of a bridge overpass to this parking area, eliminating the need for a traffic signal.

The portion of the modern I-690 corridor west of Downtown Syracuse was originally served by NY 48, a route assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.

[6] In the early 1960s, work began on a new freeway extending from the New York State Thruway to Syracuse by way of the western shoreline of Onondaga Lake.

When I-690 was extended eastward through downtown to Midler Avenue (now NY 598) in the mid-1960s,[7][8] I-690 was moved onto its current, limited-access routing.

[13] As part of the community grid solution for I-81 in Downtown Syracuse, a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) section of I-690 around the intersection with I-81 will be rebuilt.

Bridges along this section will be replaced, and the rebuilt highway will feature wider lanes and bigger shoulders, and realign to southerly (further south of the former New York Central Railroad station track area).