New York State Route 171

NYS Route 171
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and the village of Frankfort
Length: 5.69 mi[3] (9.16 km)
Existed: ca. 1931[1][2] – present
Major junctions
West end: CR 145 / CR 185 in Frankfort town
East end: Main Street in Frankfort village
Location
Counties: Herkimer
Highway system

Numbered highways in New York
Interstate • U.S. • N.Y. (former) • Reference • County

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New York State Route 171 (NY 171) is an east–west state highway in Herkimer County, New York, in the United States. The route connects the hamlet of Gulph in the town of Frankfort to the village of Frankfort by way of the Frankfort Gorge. Its western terminus is at the junction of County Route 145 (CR 145) and CR 185 southeast of Gulph. The eastern terminus is 5.69 miles (9.16 km) to the east at an intersection with Main Street in Frankfort village. NY 171 is a narrow, two-lane highway for its entire length.

NY 171 is the only signed state highway in New York that does not intersect another signed state route. This was not always the case, however: when it was originally assigned in the 1930s, Main Street in Frankfort was part of NY 5S. A new freeway alignment for NY 5S was constructed between Utica and Ilion in the late 1960s, isolating NY 171 from the remainder of the state highway system. Frankfort's interchange with NY 5S is at Cemetery Street, 0.75 miles (1.21 km) to the west.

Contents

Route description

NY 171 begins at an intersection with CR 145 (Ball Road) and CR 185 (Gulph Road) southeast of the hamlet of Gulph. The route heads eastward, passing through a dense forest in the town of Frankfort. The forest surrounds NY 171 for a substantial distance, separating it from more developed areas of the town. The highway eventually makes a turn to the northeast, beginning a winding, curve-filled stretch that leads the route through the Frankfort Gorge and ultimately to the village of Frankfort. As it heads through the valley, NY 171 intersects with CR 13, known locally as Furnace Road. CR 13 and NY 171 parallel for a short distance as CR 13 climbs the north face of the gorge before turning northward at its top.[4]

The route continues on, passing under a series of power lines and loosely paralleling the more northerly CR 96 (Higby Road) to the outskirts of the village of Frankfort. Here, NY 171 intersects with several roads of local importance before crossing over the NY 5S freeway to enter the village itself. On the eastern side of the highway, NY 171 becomes South Litchfield Street and passes through more developed, mostly residential areas. It continues to the village's central business district,[4] where state maintenance of the route ends at a junction with Canal Street. Despite this fact, the route continues for one more block as a village-maintained highway to an intersection with Main Street.[5][6]

History

NY 171 was assigned ca. 1931 to its current alignment through the Frankfort Gorge. At the time, Main Street in Frankfort, which the route connected to on its eastern end, was part of NY 5S.[1][2] In the late 1960s, a limited-access highway was constructed between Utica and Ilion alongside NY 5S.[7] The new highway became part of a rerouted NY 5S in the early 1970s.[8][9] As a result, NY 171, which does not interchange with the highway, no longer connects to any other signed state routes.[10] NY 171 is the only signed state highway in New York that is completely isolated from the remainder of the state highway system.[3]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Herkimer County.

Location Mile[3] Destinations Notes
Town of Frankfort 0.00 Ball Road (CR 145) / Gulph Road (CR 185) Hamlet of Gulph
Village of Frankfort 5.69 Main Street Former routing of NY 5S
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ a b Standard Oil Company of New York (1930). Road Map of New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. 
  2. ^ a b Kendall Refining Company (1931). New York (Map). Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company. 
  3. ^ a b c "2008 Traffic Volume Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. p. 177. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT%20TVR%202008%20by%20Route.pdf. Retrieved February 1, 2010. 
  4. ^ a b Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! Maps – overview map of NY 171 (Map). Cartography by NAVTEQ. http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=h&lat=43.038526&lon=-75.068693&zoom=17&q1=43.008987%2C-75.157206&q2=43.039545%2C-75.071353. Retrieved May 9, 2009. 
  5. ^ "Herkimer County Inventory Listing" (CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. March 2, 2010. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-repository2/INV_2010-03-02_herkimer.csv. Retrieved December 20, 2010. 
  6. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (1978). Ilion Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=p38. Retrieved December 20, 2010. 
  7. ^ National Bridge Inventory, a database compiled by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, available at www.nationalbridges.com. Accessed March 27, 2009.
  8. ^ State of New York Department of Transportation (January 1, 1970) (PDF). Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State. http://www.greaternyroads.info/pdfs/state70.pdf. Retrieved May 8, 2010. 
  9. ^ Gulf Oil Company (1972). New York and New Jersey Tourgide Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company (1972 ed.). 
  10. ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – New York State Route 171 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=43.020839,-75.11404&spn=0.04424,0.111408&z=14. Retrieved March 27, 2009. 

External links