New York State Route 207
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| NY Route 207 |
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| Length: | 19.10 mi[1] (30.74 km) | ||||||||||||
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| West end: |     US 6/NY 17/17A/17M in Goshen |
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| East end: |  NY 17K in Newburgh |
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| Counties: | Orange | ||||||||||||
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New York State Route 207 is a state road, located entirely within Orange County, that connects Goshen and Newburgh. It has for a long time provided the main access to Stewart International Airport.
It follows the route of the old Goshen-Newburgh Turnpike and is a two-lane road through its entire length. While much of the countryside surrounding the road is rural and picturesque, increasing development within the county has given it the highest growth in traffic volume of any Orange County state highway in the early 2000s, according to state Department of Transportation data analyzed by a local newspaper.[2][3]
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[edit] Route description
The route begins in southwest Goshen, at the intersection of the Quickway (US 6 and NY Route 17) and NY Route 17M. South of the junction NY 17A continues as Pulaski Highway toward Florida and Warwick.
It enters Goshen as Greenwich Avenue, becoming Main Street at a five-way intersection at the southwest corner of the village's large triangular central green (Westbound traffic sometimes misses the Greenwich fork and continues on Main as there is no overhead sign, just one at the side of the road). The historic buildings in this area of Goshen have been federally recognized as the Church Park Historic District. At the triangle's northern end, after passing next to Orange County's original courthouse and the Orange Blossoms monument, it is joined by Park Place and passes the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame on the right, then the Orange County Government Center on the left, before leaving the village. Entering the countryside, it begins to veer more to the east.
Six miles (9.6 km) later in the Town of Hamptonburgh, Route 207 goes into a short tunnel under the Metro North-Norfolk Southern tracks and then immediately bears right, more due east, where NY 416 splits off to the left, northward, toward Montgomery. It then passes through what could be called downtown Campbell Hall at a grade crossing with the former Wallkill Valley Railroad, still used today by NS as a freight spur to Walden.
Three miles further down it goes through a slightly staggered intersection with NY Route 208 in the hamlet of Rock Tavern between Maybrook and Washingtonville. Now known as Little Britain Road, it skirts the southern boundary of Stewart State Forest for several miles, passes Little Britain Elementary School and a new medical office park.
The intersection with Drury Lane, long the dividing lane between the airport proper and lands seized in the early 1970s for a massive expansion that was later canceled, is currently being expanded and rebuilt to support a new exit on Interstate 84. A traffic light will be installed when the work is complete, and Drury will be upgraded from a county road to become NY 747. A mile and half later 207 reaches the entrance to Stewart International Airport. After that, it passes under (but does not intersect with) the New York State Thruway (Interstate 87), immediately west of its junction with NY Route 300.
After a concurrent section of 0.2 mile, 207 then splits to the northeast and its eastern terminus in Newburgh, although it is difficult to tell exactly where this is.
[edit] Eastern terminus issues
While this is generally agreed to be at an intersection with Route 17K (Broadway), the signage sends mixed messages:
- A junction sign can be seen along westbound 17K two blocks before the traffic light at Wisner Avenue. However, at the intersection itself there are currently no signs indicating a left turn for 207.
- It would thus seem that 207 uses the relatively quiet two blocks of Wisner to connect to Little Britain Road. But there is no signage along 207 eastbound that supports this. Traffic coming into the city this way usually follows Little Britain to its historical end at West Street, where it becomes Washington Avenue, just below a light with Broadway. Maps have indicated this as the end of 207 and some signage in the past has supported this.
- Signs along Wisner northbound approaching 17K inform drivers of the junction and give directions to Route 32, but say nothing about 207 ending.
- Indeed, it is hard to tell if 207 exists in the city at all. The last reference markers and reassurance shields along the route in either direction are found a short distance east of the city line.
[edit] Communities along the route
[edit] History
When it was widened, the short section concurrent with 300 was relocated just to the south. The former right of way can still be seen.
[edit] Major intersections
| County | Location | Mile[1] | Roads intersected | Notes |
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| Orange | Village of Goshen | 0.00 | US 6 / NY 17 / NY 17M NY 17A |
Exit 124 (US 6/NY 17/NY 17M); northern terminus of NY 17A |
| Campbell Hall | 5.48 |  NY 416 |
Southern terminus of NY 416 | |
| Rock Tavern | 9.11 |  NY 208 south |
Western terminus of overlap | |
| 9.24 | NY 208 north |
Eastern terminus of overlap | ||
| Town of New Windsor | 13.78 |  NY 747 |
Southern terminus of NY 747; former southern terminus of CR 54 | |
| 16.57 |  NY 300 north (Union Avenue) |
Western terminus of overlap; to   I-87 / Thruway |
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| 16.96 | NY 300 south (Union Avenue) |
Eastern terminus of overlap | ||
| City of Newburgh | 19.10 | NY 17K (Broadway) |
[edit] References
- ^ a b 2006 Traffic Data Report for New York State (PDF) p. 255. New York State Department of Transportation (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
- ^ McKenna, Chris and Mele, Chris; February 5, 2007; "Small towns feel brunt of growth on roadways"; Times-Herald Record; retrieved February 12, 2007.
- ^ Also see this attached map and chart.
