U.S. Route 15 in New York

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U.S. Route 15
Length:	12.59 mi[1] (20.26 km)
Formed:	1938[2]
South end:	US 15 at Lindley
North end:	I-86/NY 15/NY 17 in Painted Post
Numbered highways in New York < NY 14A NY 15 > Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference United States Numbered Highways List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

Within the U.S. state of New York, U.S. Route 15 extends 12.59 miles (20.26 km) through the Southern Tier from the New York-Pennsylvania border north to the western suburbs of Corning. The southern terminus is at the state line in Lindley, where US 15 continues into Pennsylvania. The northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 86, NY 15, and NY 17 in Painted Post northwest of downtown Corning.

US 15 originally continued north to Rochester before being truncated to its present northern terminus. Future plans call for US 15 to be redesignated as Interstate 99.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 3 Future 4 Exit list 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Route description

US 15 enters New York adjacent to the state line borough of Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. Less than a quarter of a mile from Pennsylvania in the town of Lindley, US 15 crosses the Cowanesque River just west of where the waterway merges with the Tioga River. US 15 continues north as a two-lane roadway through the Tioga River valley, paralleling the waterway through the hamlet of Lindley to Presho, a small community near the Lindley-Erwin town line. South of Presho, US 15 expands to four lanes and becomes a limited-access highway, with the pre-freeway routing of US 15 visible to the immediate east on the western bank of the Tioga. US 15 continues north, bypassing Presho to the west and interchanging with Smith Road (County Route 5) west of the community.

US 15, its pre-freeway alignment, and the Tioga River head north into the Erwin hamlet of Erwins, located at the convergence of the Canisteo and Tioga Rivers. Here, US 15 interchanges with NY 417, the former alignment of NY 17, for the first time. East of the exit, NY 417 intersects the former alignment of US 15 and follows old US 15 northward to Gang Mills in the shadow of the modern US 15 freeway. At the southern edge of the village, US 15 meets NY 417 again at exit 3, the first exit with a displayed number. Due to the construction at the northern terminus of US 15, NY 417 terminates at the interchange, with the roadway continuing onward in the vicinity of current US 15 as South Hamilton Street.

Near the northern edge of the village, US 15 interchanges with Robert Dann Drive at exit 4; however, due to construction on the new interchange with I-86, as well as a reconstruction of the approach to US 15 from Robert Dann Drive, the exit is currently closed to traffic. Immediately after the ramps from exit 4, US 15 encounters a recently reconfigured interchange with I-86, NY 15, and NY 17. Instead of the previous diamond interchange between the two, where US 15 intersected a series of ramps from the Southern Tier Expressway at-grade, the interchange now utilizes a series of flyovers, creating a freeway-to-freeway connection between US 15 and I-86/NY 17. US 15 terminates at the interchange; its continuation, NY 15, follows I-86/NY 17 west from the exit.

The current interchange, located adjacent to where the Cohocton River merges with the Tioga River to form the Chemung River in Painted Post, is the third design used at the site and the first not providing access to North Hamilton Street from US 15.

[edit] History

US 15 was extended northward into New York in 1938^[2] as part of a larger extension of US 15 that moved the northern terminus of the route from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Rochester.^[3][4] At the time, US 15 followed its modern alignment from Pennsylvania to Presho, Indian Hill Road from Presho to Erwins, NY 417 from Erwins to Gang Mills, and Hamilton Street from Gang Mills to Painted Post. From Painted Post northward, US 15 was routed along modern NY 415 to Wayland,^[5] where US 15 continued to Rochester on the current routing of NY 15.^[6]

Prior to 1938, the routing of US 15 was designated as New York State Route 4 in 1924^[7] and redesignated as New York State Route 2 between 1926 and 1929.^[8][9] The connecting route at the state line also varied during the 1920s. In 1926, NY 4 connected to PA 4;^[8] however, by 1929, NY 2 connected to U.S. Route 111.^[9] NY 2 remained unchanged in the 1930 renumbering.^[10]

In 1969, US 15 was rerouted onto a new limited-access highway between Erwins and Painted Post.^[11] Also, by 1969, US 15 was rerouted onto the partially-complete Southern Tier Expressway from Painted Post to Campbell (exit 41), where it rejoined its former routing. The old alignment of US 15 became part of an extended NY 415.^[12][13] In 1974, US 15 was truncated to its current northern terminus in Painted Post and replaced with NY 15 from Painted Post to Rochester.^[2] By 1978, NY 15 was rerouted onto I-390 and NY 17 between Campbell and Wayland and NY 415 was extended west to Wayland over the former alignment of US 15.^[13][14][15]

The interchange between US 15 and NY 17 (now concurrent with Interstate 86) in Painted Post has been redesigned twice. The original configuration of the interchange featured a loop centered around the point where US 15 met NY 17, with ramps providing access to and from the loop from US 15, NY 17, and North Hamilton Street.^[12] The second design, in place until 2003, was a semi-diamond interchange, with US 15 intersecting ramps from I-86/NY 17 at-grade. One connection, I-86/NY 17 east to North Hamilton Street, was lost in this version due to the unorthodox ramp setup of the southern half of the interchange. North of the ramps leading to and from I-86/NY 17 westbound, the right of way of US 15 continued north into Painted Post as North Hamilton Street.^[16] The third setup, currently under construction, will be a directional-T interchange, creating a freeway-to-freeway connection between US 15 and I-86/NY 17. Separate ramps for North Hamilton Street from I-86/NY 17 will be retained; however, for the first time, there will be no direct connection between US 15 and North Hamilton.^[17] Work on the interchange began in 2003^[18] and is expected to be completed in 2008.^[19]

[edit] Future

This section contains information about a planned or expected future road. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

All of US 15 in New York is or is in the process of being upgraded to Interstate Highway standards. Construction on the southernmost mile of the new US 15 freeway from Pennsylvania to Watson Creek Road in Lindley began in June 2007. The project, expected to cost $16.7 million, is expected to conclude in September 2008. The one-mile freeway will connect to a new expressway alignment at the Pennsylvania state line, also scheduled to be completed in September 2008. The remaining five miles from Watson Creek Road to Presho is currently in the design phase.^[20]

In the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, US 15 in New York was defined as part of Interstate 99.^[21] However, I-99 currently ends near Tyrone, Pennsylvania, and there is no timetable for its extension to Corning.

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Steuben	Lindley	0.00		US 15	New York-Pennsylvania state line
		Begin limited-access northbound; begin at-grade intersections southbound
		6.34	1	Presho	Exit leads to CR 5; exit number not posted
	Erwin	8.12	2	NY 417 – Erwin, Addison	Exit number not posted
	Gang Mills		3	NY 417 west – Gang Mills	Current eastern terminus of NY 417
		11.93	4	Robert Dann Drive (CR 107)	Exit closed due to construction on nearby I-86/US 15 interchange
	Painted Post	12.59	4A-B	I-86 / NY 15 north / NY 17 – Jamestown, Rochester, Binghamton, Corning	Exit 44 (I-86/NY 17); southern terminus of NY 15

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• New York Routes - U.S. Route 15