This article is about the current alignment of NY 17A. For the former alignment of NY 17A in Cattaraugus County, see New York State Route 242.
New York State Route17A (NY17A) is a state highway in southern New York in the United States, entirely within Orange County. Its western terminus is located in the village of Goshen at a junction with NY17 (Future I-86), and its eastern terminus is at another intersection with NY17 located in Southfields. It runs concurrently with NY94 from Warwick to Florida. It serves mainly to connect Warwick with the rest of the county. While it is an east–west route, many sections run in a more north–south orientation. Its circuitous route allows it to offer much scenery to drivers.
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New York State Route 17A
Map of Orange County with NY17A highlighted in red
The Greenwood Lake–Goshen portion of NY17A was originally designated as part of New York State Route55 in the 1920s. South of Greenwood Lake, NY55 used modern NY210. NY55 was split into NY17A and NY210 as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. Initially, only NY210 continued east from Greenwood Lake to Southfields; however, NY17A was extended to Southfields by 1933, overlapping NY210. The overlap was eliminated in 1982 when NY210 was truncated to Greenwood Lake.
Route description
NY17A begins just south of NY17 exit124 in the village of Goshen. At the traffic light with the southern on-ramp from NY17 eastbound, NY207 becomes NY17A. The route quickly climbs to some of the hillier areas south of Goshen, offering views of not only Orange County's Black Dirt Region but Pochuck Mountain and High Point to the south in New Jersey. It then slowly descends past rolling meadows and farmland until it reaches the small village of Florida, where NY94 comes in from the west shortly after the village border. The concurrent roads then become Florida's main street.[3]
Once out of the village, NY17A and NY94 begin to climb again, this time offering some panoramic views to the north, all the way to the Shawangunk Ridge and even the Catskill Mountains beyond them in clear enough weather. The road is surprisingly little developed in this area, with only one gas station between Florida and Warwick, its next stop, which likewise presents itself after a descent. Again, NY17A and NY94 serve as the bustling village's main street, longer this time and with many upscale boutiques in evidence. Many historic buildings line the road through Warwick. Near the southern end of the village, the two roads split, with NY94 continuing toward New Jersey while NY17A goes eastward.[3]
The road begins to climb again over the next few miles, passing a county park and finally the small Mount Peter ski area before crossing the Appalachian Trail along the ridgecrest of Bellvale Mountain. From here it once again drops down and bends in a north–south direction to reach Greenwood Lake, where NY210 leaves to go along the side of the lake to the state line.[3]
Leaving Greenwood Lake, NY17A climbs once again to cross another ridge before descending and expanding to a four-lane expressway to pass through Sterling Forest and reach its eastern terminus at NY17 in Southfields. The highway formerly continued as County Route106 (CR106) in Orange and Rockland counties east to that route's eastern terminus at U.S. Route 9W (US9W) and US202 in Stony Point. CR106 was once part of NY210 before it was truncated to NY17A in Greenwood Lake.[3]
History
East of Bellvale, NY 17A follows the course of the Bellvale Turnpike, chartered 1810 to run from Bellvale to the Orange Turnpike.[4] This road was still called the Monroe Turnpike by at late as the 1870s. NY 17A has bypassed most of this turnpike.[5]
In the late 1920s, what is now NY17A from Greenwood Lake to Goshen was designated as part of NY55, a connector between NY17 in Goshen and the New Jersey state line.[6][7] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY55 was incorporated into two longer routes: NY210 from New Jersey to Greenwood Lake and NY17A from Greenwood Lake to Goshen.[8] The modern routing of NY17A between Greenfield Lake and Southfields was originally only part of NY210, which continued past NY17 and into Rockland County.[2][9] NY17A was extended east to Southfields by 1933, completing the alternate loop of NY17 and creating an overlap with NY210.[10]
In 1980, ownership and maintenance of NY210 between NY210 and the Rockland County line was transferred from the state of New York to Orange County.[11] Two years later, all of NY210 in Rockland County was given to the county.[12] NY210 was truncated to its current northern terminus in Greenwood Lake following the latter swap, eliminating the overlap with NY17A.[13][14]
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
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article NY_17A, and is written by contributors.
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