New York State Route 23

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NY Route 23
Length: 156.15 mi[1] (251.30 km)
Formed: 1924[2]
West end: NY 26 in Cincinnatus
Major
junctions:
NY 12 in Norwich
I-88 / NY 28 in Oneonta
NY 30 in Roxbury
I-87 / Thruway in Catskill
US 9 / NY 9H / NY 82 in Livingston
East end: MA 23 at Copake
Counties: Cortland, Chenango, Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie, Greene, Columbia
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 22A NY 23A >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 23 is a state highway in eastern New York. It runs from Central New York through the Catskills to the Massachusetts state line in the Berkshires. The western terminus of the route is at NY 26 in the town of Cincinnatus. The eastern terminus is at the Massachusetts state line in the town of Copake, where it becomes Massachusetts Route 23. Along the way it passes through some very scenic areas of the state. NY 23 crosses the Hudson River at Catskill via the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, map makers used an example of a reference marker from NY 23 to explain how they work.

Contents

[edit] Route description

Route 23 has three distinct sections: its western third in Central New York and the Leatherstocking region, the middle in the Catskills, and east of the Hudson.

[edit] Central New York

The highway begins at a junction with NY 26 in eastern Cortland County, at Lower Cincinnatus. It crosses into Chenango County very soon afterwards, and then trends northwards to the Pharsalia State Wildlife Management Area, after which it starts heading southwards again to the county seat, Norwich, where it intersects with NY 12. Another major north-south route, NY 8, awaits at South New Berlin. It is followed by the Unadilla River, which puts 23 into Otsego County.

Several miles into the new county, 23 encounters Morris, its first town, where it briefly joins NY 51 along the main street. Beyond Morris, the route continues easterly with a generally southern trend through rolling farmland, until turning south again at West Laurens. A brief easterly turn again at West Oneonta merges it with NY 205.

The two highways enter the western end of the city of Oneonta, where they are met by NY 7 coming in from the southwest. 205 continues south with that portion of 7 while 23 and 7 go east to serve as the city's main street. The two roads diverge again at the city's east end, near the National Soccer Hall of Fame. 23 has an interchange with Interstate 88, here also carrying NY 28, and then leaves the Oneonta area by going past several large strip malls and big-box retailers to the Delaware County line.

[edit] Catskills

23 follows the Charlotte Creek valley, at first, as the land gets noticeably woodsier and the houses fewer in this, the least densely populated county in New York outside of the Adirondacks. After Davenport, the road begins to climb onto the Catskill Plateau. By the time it intersects NY 10 at Stamford, and crosses a small brook that is all that exists of the West Branch of the Delaware River this close to its source, it has already reached 1,820 feet (555 m) above sea level.

It maintains this elevation during a brief detour into Schoharie County, where the scenic mountains to the south rise to heights over 3,000 feet (914 m) — still leaving them among the lesser Catskill peaks. Elevation drops slightly at the next stop, the hamlet of Grand Gorge within the town of Roxbury, just above the small pond along junctioning NY 30 that gives rise to the Delaware's East Branch.

A few miles outside of Grand Gorge, at a bend south of Schoharie Reservoir, 23 enters Greene County. A bridge over the Schoharie Creek heralds the next town, Prattsville. Zedoch Pratt, the tanner and politician who lent his name to the town, left a series of rock carvings depicting his life at Pratt Rocks just outside of town.

Shortly after the village, NY 23A continues along the Schoharie while 23 climbs again along Batavia Kill. Shortly past the scenic Red Falls along the kill, all crossings of the creek come to mark the Blue Line that delineates the Catskill Park. 23 remains to the north of the creek even as it passes the Windham Mountain ski area and NY 296 comes in from the south. However, it crosses it several times and is within the park as it reaches its highest point, 1,940 feet (591 m) at the pass next to Windham High Peak where the Long Path crosses the road (and ended for a very long time). This location, very near the northernmost point in the Catskill Park, has long been considered its northern gateway.

Here 23 begins a long descent down the Catskill Escarpment, losing much of the elevation it has gained since Oneonta and providing sweeping, panoramic views of the Capital District and points north, east and west. Five State Lookout is a popular place to stop and gape. On good days the Adirondack foothills and Green Mountains in Vermont are visible.

Having reached the floor of the Hudson Valley, 23 assumes a southeast-trending route through Cairo, where it picks up NY 145 and briefly overlaps NY 32, the major north-south state route on the west side of the Hudson River. It has an indirect intersection with the New York State Thruway (Interstate 87), and then US 9W and NY 385 as it passes north of Catskill, the county seat, to cross the Hudson by way of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.

[edit] East of the Hudson

Once across the bridge and into Columbia County, 23 encounters NY 9G near Olana State Historic Site. The two highways are briefly joined until 9G continues north with NY 23B to follow 23's old course through Hudson.

23 perseveres to the southeast, meeting US 9 after a few miles. The two highways overlap into the complex intersection at Bell Pond, where 9 continues south, NY 82 continues along 23's course, while 23 and new route NY 9H pick up 9's in a northerly direction that takes them to Claverack. Here 23B finishes its loop from the west, 9H continues north and 23 resumes an east-west alignment. Shortly after this junction, NY 217 splits off to the north.

The road continues across countryside more open and less rugged, but still very picturesque, than the Catskills. At Martindale it intersects the Taconic State Parkway, then following a creek valley down into Hillsdale, where the NY 22 junction heralds the proximity of the state's eastern border. Almost three miles (5 km) to the east, at the bi-state Catamount Ski Area, NY 23 becomes MA 23.

[edit] History

NY 23 was assigned to most of its current alignment from Oneonta to the Massachusetts state line southwest of Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1924.[2] From Oneonta to Cairo, as well as from Claverack to the Massachusetts state line, NY 23 was routed along its modern alignment. East of Cairo, NY 23 followed what is now County Road 23B into Catskill, then overlapped NY 10 northward along modern NY 385 to Athens. After crossing the Hudson River via a ferry, NY 23 continued east through Hudson on what is now NY 23B to Claverack.[3]

Between 1924 and 1926, NY 23 was extended westward to Norwich along its current routing.[3] In the 1930 renumbering, NY 23 was unchanged east of Norwich; however, the route was extended west along a previously unnumbered roadway to NY 26 in northwest Chenango County. From Norwich to North Pharsalia, NY 23 followed its modern alignment; between North Pharsalia and NY 26, NY 23 was routed on modern County Road 42.[4] Later, by 1946, NY 23 was rerouted onto the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and current NY 23B between Catskill and Hudson.[5]

By 1967, NY 23 was moved onto its current alignment between Cairo and Catskill.[6] Between 1967 and 1985, NY 23 was realigned onto its modern routing south of Hudson[6][7] while the westernmost portion of NY 23 was moved onto its present routing from Cincinnatus to North Pharsalia between 1985 and 1989.[7][8] Both roadways were previously unnumbered.[6][7]

[edit] Suffixed routes

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Cortland Cincinnatus 0.00 NY 26
Chenango City of Norwich 24.43 NY 12
Town of New Berlin 32.77 NY 8
Otsego Village of Morris 40.39 NY 51 south Western terminus of overlap
41.09 NY 51 north Eastern terminus of overlap
Town of Oneonta 51.87 NY 205 north Northern terminus of overlap
52.57 NY 205 south Southern terminus of overlap
53.03 NY 7 west (Oneida Street) Western terminus of overlap
City of Oneonta 55.29 NY 7 east (Main Street) Eastern terminus of overlap
55.88 I-88 / NY 28 north Exit 15 (I-88/NY 28); northern terminus of NY 23/28 overlap
Town of Oneonta 56.06 NY 28 south Southern terminus of overlap
Delaware Village of Stamford 80.72 NY 10
Roxbury 89.13 NY 30
Greene Prattsville 95.32 NY 23A Western terminus of NY 23A
Windham 106.32 NY 296 Northern terminus of NY 296
Town of Cairo 120.16 NY 145 Southern terminus of NY 145
120.59 NY 32 north Western terminus of overlap
121.71 NY 32 south Eastbound terminus of overlap
Town of Catskill 128.29 I-87 / Thruway via CR 23B Exit 21 (I-87/Thruway)
129.52 US 9W
Village of Catskill 130.01 NY 385
Columbia Greenport 131.67 NY 9G south Western terminus of overlap
131.96 NY 9G north / NY 23B Eastern terminus of NY 9G/23 overlap; western terminus of NY 23B
134.25 US 9 north Northern terminus of overlap
Livingston 136.93 US 9 south
NY 9H
NY 82
Southern terminus of US 9/NY 23 overlap; southern terminus of NY 9H/23 overlap
Northern terminus of NY 82; southern terminus of NY 9H
Claverack 140.82 NY 9H north
NY 23B
Northern terminus of NY 9H/23 overlap; eastern terminus of NY 23B
Livingston 141.72 NY 217 Western terminus of NY 217
Claverack 146.40 Taconic State Parkway Interchange
Hillsdale 153.62 NY 22
Copake 156.15 MA 23 Continuation into Massachusetts

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d 2006 Traffic Data Report for New York State (PDF) pp. 141–143. New York State Department of Transportation (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  2. ^ a b "New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers", New York Times, 1924-12-21, p. XX9. 
  3. ^ a b Rand McNally. Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas [map]. (1926) Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
  4. ^ Leon A. Dickinson. "New Signs for State Highways", New York Times, 1930-01-12, p. 136. 
  5. ^ Rand McNally. Rand McNally Road Atlas [map]. (1946) Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
  6. ^ a b c Gousha. Gousha Road Atlas [map]. (1967) Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
  7. ^ a b c Rand McNally. New York [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally. (1985)
  8. ^ Rand McNally. Rand McNally Road Atlas [map]. (1989) Retrieved on 2007-10-16.

[edit] External links