NY 232 heads northeast from the interchange, paralleling I-81 for a quarter-mile (0.4 km) to a four-way intersection with Old Rices Road and a state-maintained extension of CR 62.

[5] At this point, NY 232 turns east, leaving the vicinity of I-81 to head through a rural area south of the city of Watertown.

Past the railroad overpass, the highway curves back to the northeast, passing south of Rices and intersecting CR 65 as it continues through mostly open and undeveloped fields for another 1.5 miles (2.4 km).

The rural landscape eventually gives way to homes and businesses, which mark the southwestern edge of a commercial district surrounding US 11.

[10] The results of the study led the state to develop a project moving NY 232 onto a new, more southerly alignment that bypassed the turn at Rices and crossed the rail line on an overpass.