New York State Route 34

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NY Route 34
Length: 99.33 mi[1] (159.86 km)
Formed: 1930[2]
South end: NY 17 / PA 199 at Waverly
Major
junctions:		 NY 96 in Spencer
NY 79 / NY 89 / NY 96 in Ithaca
NY 90 in Genoa
US 20 / NY 5 / NY 38 in Auburn
I-90 / Thruway near Weedsport
North end: NY 104 in Hannibal
Counties: Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins, Cayuga, Oswego
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 33B NY 34B >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 34 is a north-south New York state route located in Central New York. Its southern terminus is at the New York-Pennsylvania state line with Pennsylvania Route 199 and New York State Route 17 in the village of Waverly. Its northern terminus is at New York State Route 104, outside the village of Hannibal.

Contents

[edit] Route description

[edit] Tioga and Chemung Counties

The highway begins at Exit 61 of the Southern Tier Expressway, NY 17, where PA 199 crosses into New York state, and Tioga County, on Cayuta Avenue in Waverly. Little more than half a mile into the state, Cayuta Street (NY 34) comes to a T-intersection with New York State Route 17C. Route 34 makes a sharp left and, shortly thereafter, a sharp right turn. NY 17C was formerly NY 17, and the afore-mentioned second sharp turn was once Route 34's southern terminus. NY 34 continues north along the east bank of Cayuta Creek across the county line to Van Etten, Chemung County.

In that village, NY 34 turns east at the eastern terminus of New York State Route 224. Less than a mile from NY 224, NY 34 exits Chemung County and reenters Tioga County. NY 34 continues east to Spencer, where it meets up with New York State Route 96. The routes converge from each end of Tioga Street and continue north together on Main Street. After exiting the village, NY 34 and NY 96 continue northward through the county, entering Tompkins County five miles from Spencer.

[edit] Tompkins County

A few miles south of Ithaca, NY 34 and NY 96 merge with Elmira Road near Treman State Park, joining New York State Route 13 northward through Buttermilk Falls State Park to Ithaca. In recent history, Meadow Street carried both directions of NY 13 and NY 34 through part of Ithaca; however, in the late 1990s southbound traffic was diverted to Fulton Street for a ten-block section. NY 96 diverges to the west at West Buffalo Street in this section. NY 34 diverges from the NY 13 freeway in the northern part of the city. In Ithaca, NY 34 passes the Ithaca Farmers Market, the Sciencenter, and Stewart Park.

Between NY 13 and Cayuga Heights Road in the Village of Lansing, NY 34 ascends a hill, offering a view down Cayuga Lake. The highway is close to the lake shore itself for an approximately two mile stretch prior to the hill. Descending the hill, one is offered a view of the city. Easily seen is the West and East Dormitory Towers of Ithaca College, located on NY 96B.

In the town of Lansing, the highway intersects with New York State Route 34B, a loop that serves the small communities along the ridge to the west of NY 34. Six miles due north of the NY 34/NY 34B intersection, NY 34 passes into Cayuga County.

[edit] Cayuga and Oswego Counties

Like NY 34B to the west, NY 34 serves a handful of small communities in southern and central Cayuga county, including Genoa, at the intersection with New York State Route 90. Five miles south of Auburn in Fleming, NY 34B rejoins NY 34, terminating at a T-intersection.

In downtown Auburn, NY 34 is co-signed with New York State Route 38 from the southern edge of the city north to New York State Route 5 and U.S. Route 20, where NY 38 turns west. Within downtown Auburn, NY 34 passes by the Harriet Tubman Home and the William Seward House.

From Auburn, NY 34 continues north to Weedsport, where the route interchanges with the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) at exit 40. Farther north, NY 34 enters Cato and meets New York State Route 370 in the village center. Six miles to the north, NY 34 changes counties for the final time, entering Oswego County.

Of the 100 miles of NY 34, only four miles of the route exists in Oswego County. NY 34 intersects only six roads in the county, the most notable of which is NY 104, located south of Hannibal.

[edit] History

Originally, what is now NY 34 was designated as part of NY 40 from Ithaca north to Cato. South of Ithaca, NY 34 was unnumbered from Pennsylvania to Van Etten, part of NY 53 from Van Etten to Spencer, unnumbered from Spencer to NY 13 southwest of Ithaca, and NY 13 into Ithaca.[3] Within Ithaca, NY 13 was routed on Spencer Road and Cayuga Street to Court Street, where NY 13 turned east and followed Court Street and University Avenue out of the city. NY 40, meanwhile, began at then-NY 15 at the intersection of State and Aurora Streets, one block east of NY 13. NY 40 followed Aurora, Falls, and Lake Streets through the city before joining the current alignment of NY 34 at the southeastern edge of Cayuga Lake.[4] North of Cato, modern NY 34 was unnumbered.[3]

In the 1930 renumbering, NY 34 was assigned to the segment of NY 40 from Ithaca to Auburn[2] as well as its current alignment from Ithaca to Waverly, where it ended at NY 17.[5] As part of the redesignation, NY 34 was rerouted onto Elmira Road, Spencer Road and Cayuga Street through Ithaca.[citation needed] The route was extended north to Cato by 1947,[6] then later to NY 3 in the center of Hannibal.[7] Between 1970 and 1980, NY 34 was extended south to the Pennsylvania state line.[8][9]

When the NY 104 Super-2 around Hannibal was completed by 1977, NY 34 was truncated to its present northern terminus.[10] Old NY 34 between NY 104 and NY 3 is now Oswego County Route 34.

[edit] Suffixed routes

NY 34 has had two suffixed routes; one has since been removed.

  • NY 34A was an alternate route of NY 34 through Ithaca along Court Street, Linn Street, University Avenue, and Cayuga Heights Road. NY 34A split from NY 34 at the intersection of Court and Cayuga Streets, where NY 34 turned north to follow Cayuga through downtown. The two routes rejoined north of the city.[11]
  • NY 34B (34.03 miles (54.77 km)[1]) is an alternate route of NY 34 from NY 38 south of Groton, Tompkins County to NY 34 south of Auburn, Cayuga County. From NY 38 to NY 34 in Lansing, NY 34B is an east-west route; past Lansing, NY 34B follows a north-south routing that largely parallels NY 34.

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Tioga Waverly 0.00 PA 199 Continuation into Pennsylvania
0.00 NY 17 Exit 61 (NY 17)
0.72 NY 17C Western terminus of NY 17C
Chemung Village of Van Etten 14.65 NY 224 Western terminus of NY 224
Tioga Spencer 17.71 NY 96 south Southern terminus of overlap
Tompkins Town of Ithaca 31.66 NY 13 south (West Danby Road) Southern terminus of overlap
32.16 NY 327 (Enfield Falls Road) Southern terminus of NY 327
33.23 NY 13A (Five Mile Drive)
City of Ithaca 35.34 NY 96B (West Clinton Street) Western terminus of NY 96B
35.44 NY 79 east (West Green Street) Southern terminus of overlap (southbound)
35.56 NY 79 west (West Seneca Street) Northern terminus of overlap (southbound)
35.64 NY 89 / NY 96 north (West Buffalo Street) Northern terminus of NY 34/NY 96 overlap; southern terminus of NY 89
Town of Ithaca 37.25 NY 13 north Northern terminus of overlap
Town of Lansing 42.92 NY 34B north Western terminus of overlap
43.40 NY 34B south Eastern terminus of overlap
Cayuga Genoa 53.63 NY 90
Fleming 67.46 NY 34B Eastern terminus of NY 34B
Auburn 71.88 NY 38 south Southern terminus of overlap
72.80 US 20 east / NY 5 east
72.84 US 20 west / NY 5 west / NY 38 north Northern terminus of NY 34/NY 38 overlap
Weedsport 81.02 Brutus Street Former routing of NY 31B
81.55 NY 31
Brutus 82.05 I-90 / Thruway Exit 40 (I-90 / Thruway)
Village of Cato 89.72 NY 370
Oswego Village of Hannibal 99.33 NY 104

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Traffic Data Report - NY 32 to NY 55 (PDF). NYSDOT (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  2. ^ a b Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1930/31 and 1931/32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930/31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the 1930 renumbering
  3. ^ a b Rand McNally. Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas [map]. (1926) Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  4. ^ Automobile Blue Book Inc.. Automobile Blue Book [map]. (1929) Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  5. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways. Tourist Map of Pennsylvania [map]. (1930) Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  6. ^ United States Geological Survey. Rochester, NY Quadrangle [map], 1:250,000, Eastern United States 1:250,000. (1947) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  7. ^ New York Routes - New York State Route 34. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  8. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways. Official map of Pennsylvania [map]. (1970) Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  9. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Official Transportation Map [map]. (1980) Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  10. ^ Topographic map of Hannibal, NY. United States Geological Survey (1977). Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  11. ^ Map of Ithaca, NY. United States Geological Survey (1948). Retrieved on 2007-11-02.