New York State Route 86
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| NY Route 86 |
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| Maintained by NYSDOT | |||||||||||||
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| Length: | 39.11 mi[1] (62.94 km) | ||||||||||||
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| Formed: | 1930[2] | ||||||||||||
| West end: |  NY 30 in Paul Smiths |
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| Major junctions: |
 NY 3 in Saranac Lake NY 73 in Lake Placid |
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| East end: |  NY 9N in Jay |
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| Counties: | Franklin, Essex | ||||||||||||
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New York State Route 86 is a 39.11-mile (62.94 km) long state highway located within Adirondack Park in northern New York, USA, linking Franklin County to Essex County. The western terminus of the route is at NY 30 in Paul Smiths. The eastern terminus is at NY 9N in Jay. Although largely a two-lane road, NY 86 is the only east-west highway in the High Peaks area of the Adirondack Park, providing the major link between hamlets and tourist destinations.
NY 86 was established in the 1930 renumbering, largely replacing a realigned NY 3. North of Saranac Lake, NY 86 initially followed modern NY 186 before being rerouted onto its modern alignment.
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[edit] Route description
NY 86 begins at NY 30 in Paul Smiths, Franklin County. The route heads east through the town of Brighton, providing spectacular mountain views of Adirondack Park. After passing through the tiny communities of Easy Street and Gabriels and traversing the southern edge of Paul Smiths College, NY 86 turns south to serve Harrietstown, where it meets NY 186 at the hamlet of the same name. NY 86 continues southward to Saranac Lake, the largest community on NY 86 in Franklin County. Moving through Saranac Lake, the business and tourism anchor for the area, NY 86 is well marked, but follows local roads to an intersection with NY 3 in the village center. The routes briefly overlap before splitting at the northern edge of Lake Flower.[3]
East of NY 3, NY 86 becomes the primary lakeside roadway as it follows the northern and eastern extents of Lake Flower into Essex County. Roughly 0.75 miles (1.21 km) into the county, NY 86 leaves the lakeshore and turns northeastward toward the small hamlet of Ray Brook. Farther east, the the highway travels through the Clifford R. Pettis Memorial Forest before arriving in the village of Lake Placid as Saranac Avenue.[3]
NY 86 proceeds eastward through the village, coming within view of Lake Placid before turning south onto Main Street at the western shore of Mirror Lake. As Main, NY 86 runs through the village and along Mirror Lake as the major tourist thoroughfare, passing numerous businesses and the sites of the 1936 and 1980 Winter Olympics. At the southern edge of the village, Route 86 intersects the western terminus of NY 73.[3]
Outside of Lake Placid, NY 86 enters the town of Wilmington, home of the Olympic Ski Center at Whiteface Mountain. Through Wilmington, the road largely follows the Au Sable River northeastward, providing scenic views as it heads through "Wilmington Notch," noted for trout fishing. At an intersection with the eastern terminus of NY 431 in the hamlet of Wilmington, NY 86 turns eastward and crosses into the town of Jay, where it terminates at NY 9N at the town's village green.[3]
[edit] History
What is now NY 86 from Paul Smiths to Jay via Saranac Lake and Lake Placid was originally part of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway, an auto trail extending across the North American continent from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.[4] When state highways in New York were first signed in 1924, NY 3 was assigned to the entirety of the highway within New York.[5]
NY 3 remained in place up to the 1930 renumbering when it was rerouted onto its modern alignment through the North Country. The portion of former NY 3 from Harrietstown to Jay, as well as a section of former NY 10 (modern NY 186) from Harrietstown to Lake Clear, was redesignated as NY 86.[2] North of Harrietstown, the former alignment of NY 3 became New York State Route 192A from Harrietstown to Gabriels[6] and the western half of NY 192 from Gabriels to Paul Smiths.[2]
NY 192A was removed from the state highway system on January 7, 1980. However, it was not until the removal of NY 192 on March 28, 1989,[7] that NY 86 was rerouted to follow its current alignment between Harrietstown and Paul Smiths.[8]
[edit] NY 86A
NY 86A was a spur route connecting NY 86 in Lake Placid to NY 9N in Keene.[2] It was later renumbered to NY 73.
[edit] Major intersections
| County | Location | Mile[1] | Roads intersected | Notes |
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| Franklin | Paul Smiths | 0.00 | NY 30 |
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| Harrietstown | 7.35 |  NY 186 |
Eastern terminus of NY 186 | |
| Saranac Lake | 11.94 | NY 3 east |
Northern terminus of overlap | |
| 12.37 | NY 3 west |
Southern terminus of overlap | ||
| Essex | Lake Placid | 21.98 | NY 73 |
Western terminus of NY 73 |
| Wilmington | 34.08 |  NY 431 |
Eastern terminus of NY 431 | |
| Jay | 39.11 | NY 9N |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Traffic Data Report - NY 55 to I-87 (PDF). NYSDOT (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
- ^ a b c d Leon A. Dickinson. "New Signs for State Highways", New York Times, 1930-01-12, p. 136.
- ^ a b c d I Love New York. 1977-2007 I love New York state map [map].
- ^ Rand McNally. Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas (eastern New York) [map]. (1926) Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
- ^ "New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers", New York Times, 1924-12-21, p. XX9.
- ^ New York Routes - New York State Route 192A. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
- ^ New York State Department of Transportation (October 2004). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Bicycle Routes in New York State. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
- ^ American Map Corporation. Eastern United States Interstate Road Map [map], 1" = 33.6 miles. (1992) ISBN 0-8416-5082-9. Section H2.
