New York State Route 214
Route information | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Maintained by NYSDOT | ||||
Length | 12.48 mi[1] (20.08 km) | |||
Existed | 1930[2]–present | |||
Tourist routes | Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | NY 28 in Shandaken | |||
North end | NY 23A near Tannersville | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | New York | |||
Counties | Ulster, Greene | |||
Highway system | ||||
|
New York State Route 214 (NY 214) is a 12.48-mile (20.08 km) long state highway through the
NY 214 was part of a tannery road constructed by Colonel William Edwards of Hunter in the late 1840s, opening by 1849. The road was upgraded in 1873 to the Stoney Clove Turnpike, which serviced hotels and resorts in the Catskills. In 1930, the route was designated as NY 214, but the part in Greene County was not state-maintained, instead by the county. From 1946 to 1956, the residents of the hamlet of
In 1994, it was proposed that NY 214 become part of a
Route description
NY 214 begins at an intersection with
NY 214 continues northeast out of Chichester, crossing through the town of Shandaken, remaining a two-lane roadway. A short distance northeast of Chichester, the route crosses out of
NY 214 passes a small pond of Stony Clove Notch, continuing north and turning northeast near Higgins Road. After the northeastern turn, the route junctions with the southern terminus of
History
Construction and designation
NY 214 dates back to a road constructed in the late 1840s by Colonel William Edwards,
In 1881, construction begun on the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railway, a
The Notch Road was not originally included in the New York State highway map in 1912. By 1921, it had not been added. However, in 1925, with pressure from
Reconstruction debacles
1946–1951
NY 214 became the subject of controversy for the conditions of the road through Lanesville and Greene County. The members of a committee of parents in Lanesville noted on December 2, 1946 that they would hold their students from going to school starting on January 6, 1947 if the state did not start work on repairing the road for safety. The committee noted that the conditions of NY 214 were dangerous, with the road's pavement not being maintained for use of the school bus and guard rails were not installed to keep cars from going into waterways.[12] The parents remained committed and held about 55 students out of school starting January 2, stating that nothing still had been done to maintain NY 214. Burton Belknap, part of the State Education Department, stated that they intended to make sure they would work with the local parents in order to get the students back in school.[13] The student strike was lifted on January 13 on conditions that the town of Hunter made for repairing the road.[14]
Parents noted that they demanded safer guard rails because the ones that stood were dangerous to poor construction. They also noted several sections with 15–20-foot (4.6–6.1 m) drops that had none whatsoever.
In November 1948 Greene County's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support getting funds for the continuation of reconstruction of NY 214. Funding for this project would come from the Federal Aid Secondary Highway Program. The Board had received letters noting that getting the road a contract should be urgent once money is located.
In February 1950,
This second bidding process was met with success, as the John Arborio, Inc. company of Poughkeepsie for a total of $203,242.80 (1951 USD) won the bid in January 1951. The contract would include the construction of the two bridges and reconstruction of NY 214. The new roadway would be 20 feet (6.1 m) wide and paved with gravel and asphalt, replacing the dirt road that went through the notch. This contract would also eliminate curves and grades along NY 214 from Stony Clove Notch to Kaaterskill Junction and be completed by December 1, 1951.[27]
1952–1956
After construction began on the section of NY 214 at its northern end, the issue came up with Greene County and its southern section of road. The state had put the project on its construction program for 1952, however, it required federal approval. The explanation was due to a request for action created by Wicks to the state superintendent of Public Works, B. D. Tallamy. Henry TenHagen, the deputy chief engineer at the state noted that the project was given to the Federal Bureau of Public Roads, who did not approve it due to restrictions on materials required for construction. The Board of Supervisors for Greene County and the town board for Hunter voted for construction the next year. The demand was raised not only due to the incident in 1950 of the car tumbling off the cliffside, but that a 100-foot (30 m) section of road had been washed out in a recent storm.[28]
On June 9, the federal government approved that the last section of NY 214 was eligible for federal aid, at the cost of $700,000 (1952 USD), which would be subsidized by half by the government. However, due to the approval being announced late in the fiscal year, there was no ability on part of the state to let a bid contract until the next, as all state money for the year had dried up. The $700,000 project would go to four miles of grading, drainage structures, three bridges and paving of two lanes through Greene County. The federal government announced they would approve construction bidding once the state sent documents noting they acquired rights-of-way for the project.[29] However, by July 30, no progress was made by the state on construction despite federal approval according to J. Ernest Wharton, a United States Congressman from Richmondville.[30]
The debacle over the final section of NY 214 dragged into 1953 and soon 1954, when the residents of Lanesville pressed
On August 24, the Department of Public Works noted a letter to the parents committee noting that NY 214 had been placed on the 1955 program for construction, like it had three years prior. The state also noted that they would do survey and design during the winter of 1954–1955 and then move the project to the contract stage in 1955.[33] By late December 1954, the district engineer for the state noted that the work would be able to be contracted by April 1.[34] However, plans were not sent to the state until late July 1955 to the main office in Albany.[35] To make things worse, the defeat of a $750 million road bond amendment in November 1955 would potentially delay the work on NY 214 even further. Stating more run-around by the state, John Papp, the chair of the parents committee noted that the letting proposal for a contract was to start December 1, 1955, but defeating the amendment changed plans, even though part of the road was severely damaged in a storm on October 16.[36]
By December 1955, however, the committee was fed up once again with the state and their treatment of the NY 214 reconstruction. They threatened yet another school strike after disappointed results from new Governor
On April 19, a letting for the section of NY 214 was finally held, but no bids were received on the project, requiring a second set to begin on June 7. However, Governor Harriman noted that the cost of the project had gone up to $815,000 instead of the original $700,000 estimated in 1952.
Scenic byway
In March 1994, the town of Hunter, the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development and the Greene County Planning Department nominated NY 214 along with the Kaaterskill Clove portion of NYS 23A and the clove portion of Platte Clove Rd. to the New York State Scenic Roads Program.[9] In 2011, it was proposed that the Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway would serve a section of NY 214 from State Route 23A to the Greene County line. Eventually, this would connect the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway with the Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway, with the designation of the former in 2015.[43] On June 20, 2013, a bill passed the New York State Assembly to designate the Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway and sent to Governor Andrew Cuomo to be signed.[44] On July 12, the Governor signed the Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway into law.[45] The southern section of Route 214 was designated part of the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway in November 2015.
Major intersections
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hamlet of Phoenicia | |||||
Town of Hunter | 12.48 | 20.08 | NY 23A (Main Street) – Hunter, Tannersville | Northern terminus | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
See also
References
- ^ a b "2008 Traffic Volume Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. p. 189. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
- ^ Standard Oil Company of New York. 1930.
- ^ a b c Microsoft; Nokia (March 11, 2013). "overview map of NY 214" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ^ MEMOIRS OF COL. WILLIAM EDWARDS FORMERLY OF STOCKBRIDGE AND NORTHAMPTON, MASS., LATER OF HUNTER, GREENE CO., N.Y., AND OF BROOKLYN, N.Y. not published. 1847. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Management Unit 1" (PDF). catskillstreams.org. Catskill Streams. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ^ History of Greene County New York with Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men. J.B. Beers and Co. 1884.
- ^ Thompson, Isaac Grant; Irving Browne (1873). Albany Law Journal. Weed, Parsons & Company. p. Supplement 29. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ Carey, Tobe (December 19, 2012). "Rails to the Catskills - Mountain Top Attractions". Watershed Post. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ a b "Final Phoenicia-Mount Tobias Wild Forest Unit Management Plan" (PDF). New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. pp. 2, 6–7. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ^ "The Stony Clove Notch Road Given Publicity". The Saugerties Telegraph. November 25, 1949. p. 3. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- State of New York Department of Public Works. 1926.
- ^
- ^
- ^ Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway Proposed Corridor Management Plan August 2012 (PDF) (Report). Central Catskills Collaborative. August 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ^ "Bill to Create "Mountain Cloves Scenic Byway" Passes Assembly" (Press release). Office of Assemblymember Peter D. Lopez. June 20, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ Adams, Kyle (July 18, 2013). "Scenic Byway clears final hurdle". Windham Journal. Columbia-Greene Media. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
External links
- New York State Route 214 at Alps' Roads • New York Routes