New York State Route163 (NY163) is an 11.97-mile-long (19.26km) east–west state highway in Montgomery County, New York, in the United States. It runs in the shape of a C from an intersection with NY5S and NY80 in the village of Fort Plain to a junction with NY10 in the town of Canajoharie. With the exception of its eastern terminus, NY163 is not signed with directions. Reference markers indicate its terminus in Fort Plain to be its western, although the route heads nearly due southward until Sprout Brook. Approaching that hamlet, it is named Cherry Valley Road, and when NY163 turns left to head eastward, County Route82 (CR82) continues that road name directly to NY166 which leads to Cherry Valley. In Fort Plain, NY163 follows Kellogg and Douglas streets. NY163 is a two-lane highway for its entire length. The route was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and originally continued north to the village of Canajoharie via NY10.
NY163 begins at an intersection with NY5S and NY80 (Main Street) in the village of Fort Plain, although it is signed as ending at NY80 south of NY5S. The route heads southwest along Main Street through Fort Plain, overlapping with NY80 as it passes multiple commercial businesses near the village center. At Kellogg Street, NY80 and NY163 separate, with the former continuing along Main Street and the latter turning southward onto Kellogg Street. After crossing over Otsquago Creek, NY163 intersects with Clinton Avenue, where the route turns west along the creek. At the junction with Garfield Street, the name changes to Douglass Street, which runs alongside the Otsquago through a residential section of Fort Plain. Just after the junction with Honey Hill Road, the route crosses into the town of Minden, changing names to Cherry Valley Road.[3]
Through Minden, NY163 winds southwest as a two-lane rural roadway, crossing a junction with Fisk Hill Road (unsigned CR64). Continuing southwest, NY163 crosses into the residential hamlet of Freysbush, leaving the small community for a junction with Freysbush Road (CR79). At this junction, NY163 turns south, passing through Minden past a junction with Marshville Road (CR86), where it turns southwest. The two-lane rural roadway remains the same for a couple miles, crossing into the hamlet of Hessville and a junction with Indian Trail Road (CR77). Just south of that junction, NY163 turns southeast into the town of Canajoharie.[3]
NY163 crosses through the town of Canajoharie, entering the hamlet of Sprout Brook. In Sprout Brook, NY163 reaches a junction with CR82, where the route drops the Cherry Valley Road moniker. Now running eastward through Sprout Brook, NY163 begins paralleling Canajoharie Creek, crossing into the hamlet of Buel. Just east of Buel, the route junctions with West Ames Road (CR88), at which point NY163 turns northeastward. The highway soon passes a local golf club before ending at an intersection with NY10 several miles south of the village of Canajoharie.[3]
History
The highways that comprise the C-shaped NY163 were acquired by the state of New York in the early 20th century. On January18, 1907, the state let a contract to improve the section east of the hamlet of Sprout Brook to state highway standards. It was added to the state highway system in July 1910 as unsigned State Highway345 (SH345). The section between Sprout Brook and Main Street in Fort Plain was rebuilt under a project contracted out on July15, 1915, and accepted into the state highway system on November15, 1918, as SH410.[4] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, hundreds of state-maintained highways were assigned a posted route number for the first time.[5] SH345 and SH410 were designated as part of NY163,[2] which overlapped with NY80 and NY10 to connect to NY5S in Fort Plain and Canajoharie, respectively.[6] The overlap with NY10 was eliminated at some point between 1977 and 1993.[7][8]