It was later truncated on both ends to eliminate overlaps with other state routes and to accommodate the construction of other roadways, most notably I-890 in western Schenectady.

From this interchange, NY 5S travels east across Utica as an urban arterial roadway with at grade intersections.

After it crosses Broad Street, it continues east as a limited-access highway with grade-separated intersections to the Herkimer County line.

NY 5S continues southward, encountering a diamond interchange with Higby Road and Cemetery Street in Frankfort.

This 0.19-mile (0.31 km) stretch is the only part of the route that is not maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).

From here, the highway continues east for roughly two miles (3.2 km) before intersecting the northern terminus of NY 162 in the town of Root.

About one mile (1.6 km) past Noeltner Road, it crosses to the north side of the Thruway, where it stays until its eastern terminus.

From here, NY 5S continues along the south side of the Mohawk River for roughly five miles (8.0 km), then crosses into Schenectady County.

The highway continues east from here for just over three miles (4.8 km), before ending at an interchange with NY 890, which connects to I-890 and the Thruway in the town of Rotterdam.

[10][11] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY 28 was rerouted north of Mohawk to follow its modern alignment toward Poland.

[15][16] The freeway was completed between the New York State Thruway (I-90) and Schenectady in the mid-1970s, resulting in the truncation of NY 5S to I-890 exit 2.

[18][19] Work on the interchange at the eastern terminus began in October 1996, on a project to build a new roadway north across the Mohawk River to NY 5.

[12] It was realigned in the early 1970s to follow a new freeway between Utica and Old Route 5S in Ilion that bypassed Frankfort to the west.

At the time, the creek was higher and flowing faster than normal due to excessive rains in the area.

[26] The segment of NY 5S near Fort Hunter was reconfigured to carry westbound Thruway traffic while the bridge was rebuilt.

[33] On July 24, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law that a portion of NY 5S was to be designated the "Sergeant Jeremy J.