When NY53 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, it extended from Kanona in the south to the Canandaigua area in the north, utilizing what is now NY247 north of Potter. At the same time, the piece of what is now NY53 from Prattsburgh to Naples became NY247. NY53 was realigned onto its modern alignment from Prattsburgh to Naples in the early 1940s. NY247, supplanted by the realignment, was reassigned to NY53's former routing north of Potter.
Route description
NY53 begins at an intersection with NY415,[3] the former routing of U.S. Route15 (US15) through the Southern Tier,[4] southeast of Kanona, a hamlet within the Steuben County town of Bath. It initially heads northwest on Main Street, following the Cohocton River into the center of Kanona. At this point, NY53 leaves Main Street to follow an unnamed road north through the residential northern half of the community to an interchange with the Southern Tier Expressway (I-86 and NY17) at exit37. Not far from here is the southern terminus of I-390, located about one and a half miles (2.4km) to the northwest at exit36. North of I-86, NY53 follows Fivemile Creek northeastward into a valley that leads to the rural town of Wheeler.[3]
Over the next ten miles (16km), the route traverses a series of small hamlets located in otherwise undeveloped and isolated areas of Steuben County. The gully leads NY53 to the Wheeler–Prattsburgh town line, where the valley makes a sharp turn to follow the town line to the east. NY53 continues due north into Prattsburgh, however, climbing the side of the valley to reach the hamlet of Prattsburgh. The route heads north–south through the western edge of the large community, following Main Street through its central business district. At Chapel Street, the commercial surroundings end and NY53 turns to leave Prattsburgh to the northwest.[3]
Roughly three miles (5km) outside of Prattsburgh, NY53 turns to the west, loosely paralleling the Steuben–Ontario county line as it winds its way across the hilly, forested northernmost portion of Steuben County. The route breaks from this alignment after four miles (6km), at which point it turns to the north and crosses into Ontario County. Across the county line, the route maintains a north–south alignment for two miles (3.2km) across a mix of farmlands and forests. At the north end of this stretch, NY53 enters a residential area at the southern edge of the village of Naples, where it ends at a junction with NY21.[3]
History
NY53 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York to its current alignment from Kanona north to Prattsburgh. Past Prattsburgh, NY53 continued north on State Road, McMichael Road, Wetmore Road, Italy Hill Road, Italy Friend Road, Friend Road, and modern NY247 before terminating at a junction with US20 and NY5 east of Canandaigua. What is now NY53 from Prattsburgh to Naples was designated NY247.[2] In the early 1940s, NY53 was realigned north of Prattsburgh to follow NY247 to Naples while NY247 was reassigned to the portion of NY53's former routing north of NY364 in Potter.[5][6] The segment of NY53's former routing between Prattsburgh and McMichael Road north of the hamlet remained state-maintained as a reference route until April1, 1980, when ownership and maintenance of the road was transferred from the state to Steuben County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government.[7]
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_53, and is written by contributors.
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