 A long stretch of the Northway through the Adirondack Park had been an unserved zone for cellular telephone service . In 2007 , a driver who crashed off the road was unable to summon help , prompting messages from local governments to telephone companies to add new wireless towers to address the problem and warning signs to inform travelers of the so @-@ called " dark zone " . Throughout this area , roadside emergency call boxes are located approximately every two miles on both sides of the roadway . These boxes use a two @-@ way UHF radio network to connect directly to New York State Police dispatchers . The first of 13 new cellular phone towers along I @-@ 87 was installed in October 2008 . A second cellular phone tower was completed just one month later . 
