New York State Route 37B

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Massena
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CountiesSt. Lawrence
Highway system
NY 37C

New York State Route 37B (NY 37B) is an east–west

town of Massena. NY 37B intersects North Main Street, a state-maintained northward extension of NY 420
, in Massena's central district.

The origins of NY 37B date back to the early 20th century when the New York State Legislature created Route 32, an unsigned legislative route extending from North Lawrence to Ogdensburg via Massena. From Waddington to Massena, Route 32 followed River Road and Town Line Road. This portion of the route became part of NY 3 in 1924. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, the Waddington–Massena segment of NY 3 became NY 37B. The route was extended east into Massena in the 1950s after NY 37 was realigned to follow a new bypass around the village.

Most of NY 37B west of Massena ran through a low-lying area along the

Lake St. Lawrence to meet NY 37 in Louisville Corner. A connector between NY 37 and NY 37B in Louisville was designated as NY 131
by 1960. The alignments of NY 37B and NY 131 west of Massena were swapped c. 1962, placing NY 37B on its modern alignment.

Route description

NY 37B begins at an intersection with its parent route,

County Route 43). Once in Massena, the amount of development along the highway begins to increase. NY 37B, now known as Maple Street, continues northeast through Massena for three blocks before veering eastward upon passing Massena Memorial Hospital.[3]

NY 37B heading away from NY 37 in Louisville

In the center of Massena, NY 37B intersects North Main Street, which connects to

divided highway as it connects to Willow Street by way of an interchange and intersects an eastward extension of Center Street.[3]

NY 37B turns south at the interchange, becoming Parker Avenue and crossing over the Grasse River to meet East Orvis Street on the southern riverbank. Here, the route turns east to follow East Orvis Street northeastward through the residential and commercial areas that comprise southeastern Massena. At the Massena village line, East Orvis Street becomes Highland Road, a name NY 37B retains for a short distance eastward to a junction with NY 37 (St. Regis Boulevard). Although Highland Road continues through the intersection, NY 37B ends at the junction.[3]

History

In 1908, the New York State Legislature created Route 32, an unsigned legislative route extending from North Lawrence to Ogdensburg via Winthrop and Massena.[5] It entered Massena on what is now NY 420 and followed Main Street and Maple Street through the village. West of Massena, the highway was routed on Town Line Road and River Road to a junction east of Waddington, where Route 32 continued west on modern NY 37 to Waddington.[6] When state highways in New York were first posted in 1924, the portion of Route 32 between Waddington and Massena became part of NY 3, a highway extending across the width of the state.[7][8]

A 1951 USGS topographic map depicting NY 37B's original alignment

The segment of NY 3 east of

Plattsburgh. Most of NY 3's former alignment along the St. Lawrence River from Alexandria Bay to Hogansburg became part of the new NY 37;[9] however, from Waddington to Massena, NY 37 used a more inland routing. As a result, the former routing of NY 3 between the two villages became NY 37B instead.[2] In the mid-to-late 1950s, NY 37 was rerouted to follow a new bypass around the southern edge of Massena.[10][11] Following its completion, NY 37B was extended eastward along NY 37's former routing on Maple Street, Parker Avenue, and Orvis Street to meet the bypass east of the village.[10][12]

NY 37B's eastern terminus at the NY 37 bypass just east of Massena

In the 1950s, construction began on the

Lake St. Lawrence[14] and inundating the majority of NY 37B west of Massena.[11][15]

Following the destruction of the majority of NY 37B, the route was realigned west of Massena to follow a new riverside roadway to the

hamlet of Louisville Corner, where it came to an end at NY 37. The remainder of NY 37B along the Massena–Louisville town line road and in Massena was unchanged.[12][15] By 1960, a connector between NY 37 in Louisville and NY 37B and Massena utilizing NY 37's former routing west of the village was designated as NY 131.[15] The alignments of NY 37B and NY 131 west of the Maple Street / Town Line Road intersection were flipped c. 1962, placing NY 131 on the riverside and town line roads and NY 37B on NY 37's former routing into Massena.[12][16]

Major intersections

The entire route is in St. Lawrence County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Louisville0.000.00
NY 37 to NY 56 – Malone, Ogdensburg
Western terminus
NY 970B (North Main Street) – Business District
Former northern terminus of NY 420; northern terminus of NY 970B
Town of Massena
4.036.49 NY 37 (St. Regis Boulevard)Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. p. 185. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
  2. ^
    Standard Oil Company of New York
    . 1930.
  3. ^ a b c d Google (May 31, 2009). "overview map of NY 37B" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  4. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (January 2017). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State (PDF). Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  5. ^ State of New York Department of Highways (1909). The Highway Law. Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company. p. 64. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  6. ^ New York State Department of Highways (1920). Report of the State Commissioner of Highways. Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company. p. 547. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  7. ^ "New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers". The New York Times. December 21, 1924. p. XX9.
  8. Rand McNally and Company. 1926. Archived from the original
    on April 14, 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  9. ^ Dickinson, Leon A. (January 12, 1930). "New Signs for State Highways". The New York Times. p. 136.
  10. ^ a b c New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region (Map) (1957 ed.). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1956.
  11. ^ a b New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region (Map) (1958 ed.). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1958.
  12. ^
    H.M. Gousha Company. Sunoco
    . 1961.
  13. ^ "St. Lawrence Seaway". Time. June 6, 1955. p. 2. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  14. ^ a b "Big Dynamite Blast Will Create Seaway Lake Today". The New York Times. July 1, 1958. p. 22.
  15. ^
    Gulf Oil Company
    . 1960.
  16. ^ New York with Sight-Seeing Guide (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1962.

External links

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