New York State Route 426

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NY Route 426

Length:

13.32 mi^[1] (21.44 km)

Formed:

1930^[2]

South end:

PA 426 at French Creek

Major
junctions:

I-86 / NY 17 in Mina

North end:

PA 426 at Mina

Counties:

Chautauqua

Numbered highways in New York
< NY 425		NY 427 >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 426 is a state route located entirely within Chautauqua County, New York. It runs from one section of the Pennsylvania state line to another, passing through two small hamlets and providing the Southern Tier Expressway (NY 17 and Interstate 86) with its westernmost exit in New York. NY 426 is the westernmost north-south state highway in New York.

At both crossings of the state line it continues as Pennsylvania Route 426. It is the only other state highway besides NY 440 that can claim this distinction of being a middle segment of another state's similarly-numbered highway.

1 Route description
2 History
3 Major intersections
4 References

[edit] Route description

NY 426 begins where the southern segment of Pennsylvania Route 426 leaves off at the Pennsylvania state line in French Creek 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Corry, Pennsylvania. The route heads north through rural southwestern Chautauqua County to the small community known as Cutting, where it overlaps NY 474 for a tenth of a mile (0.16 km) westward before resuming its trek northward.^[3] Roughly 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Cutting, NY 426 veers to the west to avoid a large ridge situated near Beaver Meadow Brook, a small stream leading to French Creek. The route follows the brook to where it converges with the creek, then parallels French Creek northward toward the waterside hamlet of French Creek. The creek and NY 426 split south of the community, with the creek continuing along French Creek-Mina Road to the hamlet while NY 426 bypasses French Creek to the west. The route enters the town of Mina upon intersecting Harrington Hill Road a mile (1.6 km) to the north.^[4]

0.5 miles (0.80 km) into Mina, NY 426 comes within view of Findley Lake, a waterbody 2 miles (3.2 km) long from south to north and as wide as one-half mile (0.6 km) at points. The route follows the eastern edge of the lake north to the hamlet of Findley Lake, situated at the northern tip of the lake. Here, NY 426 overlaps NY 430 westward for three blocks through the community prior to interchanging with the Southern Tier Expressway (Interstate 86 and NY 17) 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Findley Lake. The exit is the westernmost exit on NY 17; however, the expressway itself continues west to Interstate 90 near Erie, Pennsylvania, as I-86. Past the expressway, NY 426 continues northwest for another 2 miles (3.2 km) through nondescript terrain to the Pennsylvania state line, where it becomes the northern segment of PA 426.^[3]

[edit] History

The entirety of NY 426 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering as a northward extension of Pennsylvania Route 189, a short route leading south to Corry, Pennsylvania. Originally, NY 426 broke from its modern alignment at French Creek-Mina Road to serve the hamlet of French Creek via French Creek-Mina and King Roads before rejoining its current route west of the hamlet.^[2] The route was realigned onto its present alignment west of French Creek sometime in the late 1930s.^[5]^[6] In the 1940s, the 426 designation was extended into Pennsylvania on both ends, effectively making NY 426 the missing segment of an otherwise discontinuous Pennsylvania Route 426.^[6]^[7]

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile^[1]	Roads intersected	Notes
Chautauqua	French Creek	0.00	PA 426	Continuation into Pennsylvania
		2.08	NY 474 east	Eastern terminus of overlap
		2.19	NY 474 west	Hamlet of Cutting; western terminus of overlap
	Mina	10.36	NY 430 east	Hamlet of Findley Lake; eastern terminus of overlap
		10.62	NY 430 west	Western terminus of overlap
		11.46	I-86 / NY 17	Exit 4 (I-86/NY 17)
		13.32	PA 426	Continuation into Pennsylvania