County Route 81 (Dutchess County, New York)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

New York State Route 22 (NY 22) is a north–south
state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
that parallels the eastern border of the U.S. state of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, from the outskirts of New York City to the hamlet of Mooers in Clinton County near the Canadian border. At , it is the state's longest north–south route and the third longest state route overall, after NY 5 and NY 17. Many of the state's major east–west roads intersect with, and often join, NY 22 just before crossing into the neighboring New England states, where U.S. Route 7 (US 7), which originally partially followed NY 22's alignment, similarly parallels the New York state line. Almost all of NY 22 is a two-lane rural road through small villages and hamlets. The exceptions are its southern end in the heavily populated Bronx and lower Westchester County, and a section that runs through the city of
Plattsburgh Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...
near the northern end. The rural landscape that the road passes through varies from horse country and views of the reservoirs of the New York City watershed in the northern suburbs of the city, to dairy farms further upstate in the Taconic and
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
mountains, to the undeveloped, heavily forested Adirondack Park along the shores of Lake Champlain. An section from Fort Ann to
Keeseville Keeseville is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Clinton and Essex counties, New York, United States. The population was 1,815 at the 2010 census. The hamlet was named after the Keese family, early settlers from Vermont. It developed along ...
is part of the All-American Road known as the Lakes to Locks Passage. The oldest portions of today's NY 22, in Westchester County and along the Lake Champlain shoreline, were Native American trails. Dutch, and after them English, settlers continued to use the road to get their farm products to market, with the southernmost portion eventually becoming the White Plains Post Road in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early 20th century, as automobile use became widespread, the state paved the more heavily used sections and built new roads to create the current highway, first designated as NY 22 in 1930. In its early years the highway began in Manhattan; until 2008 its northern end was the Canadian border.


Route description

NY 22 starts as an urban arterial road, passing through the most populous communities along its route within its first . After running northerly from its origin in the Bronx it veers slightly to the northeast in the vicinity of a traffic circle near Kensico Dam before heading northward for good as a mostly two-lane rural route all the way to the state's
North Country North Country may refer to: Places * North Country, Cornwall, England * North Country, the northern third of New Hampshire, U.S. ** Great North Woods Region (New Hampshire) * North Country (New York), a region of Upstate New York ** North Country ...
. The majority of NY 22's routing is maintained by the
New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...
(NYSDOT); however, several sections are maintained by other jurisdictions. The southernmost of these is in the Bronx, where the entirety of the highway within the borough is maintained by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT). In Westchester County, NY 22 is mostly locally maintained within the city of Mount Vernon and is county-maintained within the city of White Plains. In Clinton County, the route is locally maintained within the city of Plattsburgh. During its course, NY 22 intersects or runs concurrently with 46 other designated routes: one state parkway, five
Interstate Highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
, and seven U.S. Highways not counting its own termini. Of the surface road intersections, 18 terminate at NY 22 and 15 are concurrencies shared with the crossing routes, accounting for , or 21.5% of the highway's total length.


The Bronx to Kensico Dam

NY 22 starts as Provost Avenue at an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in the Eastchester section of the Bronx, intersecting with East 233rd Street about to the north. It soon crosses the
Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...
county line into Mount Vernon and becomes South Third Avenue, beginning a section in that county. Shortly after the county line, NY 22 makes a sharp turn to the east at the South Columbus Avenue intersection, soon passing
St. Paul's Church National Historic Site Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Sites (United States), National Historic Site located in Mount Vernon, New York, just north of the Borough (New York City), New York City borough of The Bronx. The ...
on its north, then curving back to that direction. It parallels the nearby Hutchinson River Parkway as it passes through the suburbs of Bronxville and Tuckahoe. At Wilson Woods Lake, it crosses under a railroad bridge on the Metro-North New Haven Line and becomes North Columbus Avenue, then has its first interchange with a
limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
at the Cross County Parkway. Country clubs on either side bracket NY 22's entry into Eastchester. It makes a turn to the northeast, passing the Vernon Hills Shopping Center to the right. After leaving Eastchester, NY 22 continues north into the village of Scarsdale. Paralleling the
Bronx River Parkway The Bronx River Parkway (sometimes abbreviated as the Bronx Parkway) is a long parkway in downstate New York in the United States. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Avenue ...
(BRP), enters Westchester's county seat, White Plains. NY 22 also intersects NY 125 and NY 119 in downtown White Plains, then bends to the northwest along North Broadway, eventually intersecting the Cross-Westchester Expressway ( Interstate 287 or I-287). The White Plains Rural Cemetery is visible to the west as NY 22 continues northward out of the city. In North White Plains, the surrounding area becomes less developed as it goes over a gentle rise from which a short connector runs downhill to the traffic circle where the BRP ends and the Taconic State Parkway begins, just south of Kensico Dam.


Kensico Reservoir to Brewster

While the Taconic State Parkway continues along the northwest heading NY 22 had been following, NY 22 itself veers to the northeast along the reservoir's south shore. After crossing a small bridge over one of the reservoir's bays, NY 22 becomes a four-lane divided highway and begins a thousand-foot ()
concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
, the first of 15 along its length, with NY 120. The combined roads pass just west of IBM's Armonk headquarters and the "Duke's Trees angle", the westernmost point in Connecticut. For the first time, NY 22 runs parallel to New York's eastern border, intersecting I-684 for the first of several times just north of the short portion of that highway in Connecticut, after which NY 22 reverts to two lanes. A short distance later, NY 433, one of the state's shortest highways, heads south from NY 22 into Greenwich. After that junction, NY 22 bends back to the north, paralleling I-684 as a narrow, shaded meandering two-lane rural route through the Westchester countryside of large wooded lots and houses well-screened from the road. In downtown Bedford, the first settlement since White Plains, the highway overlaps with NY 172 for a mile (1.6 km), its first concurrency with an east–west route, then veers back to the northwest at the center of town. Just to the north, NY 121, the only north–south state highway whose route is entirely east of NY 22, forks off from its southern terminus. Another mile past that, NY 22 returns to a due-north heading, passing the
John Jay Homestead State Historic Site The John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Jay Street in Katonah, New York. The site preserves the 1787 home of Founding Father and statesman John Jay (1745–1829), one of the three authors of ''The Federalist Papers'' and the ...
a National Historic Landmark, where it turns west briefly, and Harvey School, where it curves to the northwest again. After the
Katonah Museum of Art The Katonah Museum of Art is a non-collecting institution geared towards visual arts, located in Katonah, New York, Katonah, New York (state), New York. It does not have a permanent collection, but holds temporary exhibitions. The museum was foun ...
it widens briefly at a major intersection with NY 35. north of that junction, NY 22 becomes parallel with I-684 into the Town of Somers and the hamlet of Goldens Bridge. On the other side of the Interstate, accessible via NY 138, is the Goldens Bridge station on
Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...
's Harlem Line, which begins a long parallel alignment with NY 22 at this point. The railroad's Purdy's station is a short distance west of the next junction, NY 116. At another traffic light to the north, NY 116 goes east to Titicus Reservoir at the northern intersection, the highway crosses under I-684, remaining between it and the railroad tracks. Just past the Interstate, NY 22 turns west onto Hardscrabble Road, which soon turns north again to follow the tracks to the next station, North Salem's hamlet of Croton Falls. Just north of the hamlet, NY 22 crosses under the tracks, and is joined by US 202. Immediately afterward, the road crosses back under the railroad again and enters Putnam County, following the Croton River north past the spillway of
East Branch Reservoir East Branch Reservoir, is a reservoir in the town of Southeast, New York, near the village of Brewster. Part of the New York City water supply system, it was formed by impounding the East Branch of the Croton River. Forming part of the Croton W ...
. After paralleling the reservoir for almost , a third route, US 6, joins the concurrency just east of the village of Brewster, forming the only three-route overlap along NY 22. The three routes cross under a high, long bridge carrying I-84, then veer east to an interchange with the north end of I-684. US 6 and 202 continue east for Danbury while NY 22 uses the northbound on-ramp of the I-684 roadway. The next thousand feet (300 m) of NY 22, along the brief extension of I-684, is the highway's only expressway section; the roadways merge and narrow to two lanes after they cross the Croton's East Branch.


Harlem Valley, Taconics and Berkshires

NY 22 continues heading northeast along a narrow strip of land between the East Branch and Bog Brook reservoirs. It then resumes its northward heading, following a much straighter course than it had up to this point, on two lanes through wooded areas of the town of
Patterson Patterson may refer to: People * Patterson (surname) Places ;Canada * Pattersons Corners, Ontario * Patterson Township, Ontario *Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. ;United States of America * Patterson, Arkansas * Patterson ...
, where two local state highways, NY 312 and
164 Year 164 ( CLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macrinus and Celsus (or, less frequently, year 917 ''Ab urbe condit ...
, come in from the west. The highway gradually expands to three and sometimes four lanes as it passes through built-up areas of strip development. Shortly after intersecting a third state highway, NY 311, and passing another strip plaza, NY 22 crosses into
Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organ ...
. After another supermarket strip to the east, a long, gentle divided bend in the road almost a mile long ends with an overpass where NY 55 comes in from the west. It joins NY 22 as the two routes, returning to two lanes, pass through the eastern fringe of the village of Pawling and then by Trinity-Pawling School. Past the village, the railroad tracks edge closer to the highway as NY 22 enters the scenic Harlem Valley, near the lower end of the Taconic Mountains. The road curves more gently and takes longer straightaways, with lower density of residential and commercial development. from Pawling, the Appalachian Trail crosses the road next to the line's similarly named station. NY 22 and NY 55 continue their long curve into the town of
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
, past the Harlem Valley–Wingdale station next to the road across from the now-closed buildings of
Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center Harlem Valley State Hospital, south of the hamlet of Wingdale, New York, Wingdale in the town of Dover, New York, Dover, was a New York State psychiatric hospital that operated from 1924 to 1994. History The grounds were originally slated to be ...
. The NY 55 concurrency ends when that road forks off east towards Connecticut at the hamlet of Wingdale. The road continues through
Dover Plains Dover Plains is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 1,323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...
and into Amenia, where an overlap with NY 343 begins. The railroad line ends at Wassaic. NY 343 remains joined with NY 22 into the hamlet of Amenia, where it separates and heads towards Sharon, Connecticut. At the same junction, US 44 comes in from Millbrook to begin an overlap with NY 22. The valley opens up as the southern
Taconics The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range () are a range of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont. ...
loom ahead. Shortly after crossing into the Town of
North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, the highway passes by the large Coleman Station Historic District. After intersecting with NY 199 at its eastern end, NY 22 and US 44 veer northeast into the small village of Millerton in the northern protrusion of Dutchess County's Oblong, an area once the subject of a boundary dispute between New York and Connecticut in the late 17th century. US 44 continues eastward towards Lakeville, Connecticut, only a mile (1.6 km) east at this point, while NY 22 resumes its northward course into the shadow of the ridge ahead, where
Brace Mountain Brace Mountain is the peak of a ridge in the southern Taconic Mountains, near the tripoint of the U.S. states of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Its main summit is located in New York; it is the highest point in that state's Dutchess ...
, Dutchess County's highest peak, dominates the view. At another gentle curve, NY 22 slips into Columbia County and the town of Ancram. North of the county line, Massachusetts becomes the state behind Alander Mountain and the other peaks visible to the east. The southernmost route from New York to the Massachusetts state line, NY 344, leaves for Bashbish Falls State Park just west of the hamlet of Copake Falls. The next major junction is at Hillsdale, where NY 23, the longest east–west state highway not to overlap with NY 22, intersects at a traffic light just east of downtown. At Green River, NY 71, the state's shortest two-digit route, begins it short eastward course into Massachusetts. NY 22 then crosses into Austerlitz, where the surrounding terrain becomes much more wooded and the valleys become narrower. In the center of town, the historic hamlet of Old Austerlitz, East Hill Road offers a short detour to Steepletop, the farm where Edna St. Vincent Millay lived, another National Historic Landmark. A short distance later, NY 22 intersects with NY 203 at its eastern end. NY 22 then veers sharply to the northeast, resuming a northward direction within of the state line, the highway's closest approach to it along its entire length. It then rounds a mountain and heads west, paralleling the
New York State Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...
's Berkshire section (
I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
) for a mile. NY 980D (an unsigned reference route) leaves to the east, where it becomes Massachusetts Route 102 at the state line. After Thruway exit B3, NY 22 resumes its northerly heading. From here it intersects NY 295, then passes
Queechy Lake Queechy Lake is a lake in Canaan, Columbia County, New York. Situated near the Massachusetts state border, the lake is deep and contains a surface area of . The name comes from the Native American Mahican name Quis-sich-kook, of unknown meaning. ...
. NY 22 then straightens out to reach New Lebanon, where it intersects US 20. Ending a stretch with no concurrencies, the longest on NY 22, New York's longest east–west route (US 20) overlaps with its longest north–south route (NY 22) for a mile before the former continues to Pittsfield and the latter returns to the border-paralleling course, which takes it into Rensselaer County. As NY 22 continues north, it remains, at first, within a mile of Massachusetts, moving to the east to intersect with NY 43 in
Stephentown Stephentown is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,903 at the 2010 census. The town, which was originally Jericho Hallow in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was renamed for Stephen Van Rensselaer. The town is lo ...
. North of that junction, it begins to run through a deep, isolated, lightly populated valley in the New York section of the Berkshires. Wide curves take the road through the town of Berlin. NY 22 trends further west, then back east to where NY 2 crosses via an overpass at Petersburgh on its way to Petersburg Pass, the northernmost crossing of the New York–Massachusetts state line. The next road to head east from NY 22, NY 346 at North Petersburgh, enters Vermont. Shortly afterward, the highway descends gently from the Berkshires to meet another major east–west state road, NY 7. After turning northeast to join it at a traffic light, NY 22 overlaps with Route 7 for , then forks off to the north just before crossing the Hoosic River. NY 22 follows the river for to Hoosick Falls, the first village it has passed through since Millerton. There are no other state routes here, but after another , at North Hoosick, NY 67 comes in from the east and the two roads overlap as they leave Rensselaer County.


Washington County

The next of NY 22 traverse Washington County, the longest portion of the highway in a single county. Almost immediately after the joined roads cross the line, NY 67 splits off to the west, crossing the Hoosick back into Rensselaer County, while NY 22 straightens out again to go due north. After , it reaches Cambridge, where NY 313 forks off to the east. In the middle of town, NY 372, a local connector to Greenwich, ends. North of Cambridge, the highway continues through a rolling landscape of fields and farms, the low transitional country between the Appalachians and the Adirondacks. Beyond NY 29's eastern terminus at Greenwich Junction, NY 22 heads eastward again through of countryside until, just before reaching Granville, it comes within of the state line, the closest it has come to that boundary since Austerlitz. At the village's south end, NY 22 intersects NY 149 and the two routes overlap for until Route 149 begins its short journey to Vermont. Just north of Granville, the first of NY 22's two suffixed routes, NY 22A, begins its route running closely parallel to the state line and then into Vermont, where it becomes Vermont Route 22A (VT 22A), paralleling the parent route for some distance on the other side of the state line. Immediately after this junction, NY 22 begins a long curve away from the state line that has it running due west at the end of NY 40 in North Granville. It heads northwest a little further until, after passing between Great Meadows and Washington state prisons, it reaches US 4 and turns right to join it, resuming its northward course. At this point the highway is from the state line, the farthest west it has gotten from it since southern Westchester County. The overlap with US 4, the first to pair NY 22 with another north–south route since the short concurrency with NY 120, lasts for along the base of the Adirondack foothills between the low country and Lake George, before ending in Whitehall, where US 4 leaves to assume the east–west course it takes across northern New England.


Adirondack Park and Lake Champlain

As NY 22 bends westward after leaving Whitehall, it rounds the north end of the ridge to the west, offering views into Vermont. Once again the Vermont state line is very near NY 22, but now it is separated from New York by water instead of land. The stream at the bottom of this valley, surrounded by the low lying Drowned Lands
flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
, is the inflow for Lake Champlain. The lake's South Bay, which the road crosses immediately after this turn, is also the Blue Line. NY 22 has now entered the Adirondack Park, the Forest Preserve and National Historic Landmark, and the largest publicly
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
in the
contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
. Within the park, NY 22 mainly follows the lakeshore, closer to some of its more populated areas. It climbs through rock cuts as it meanders north on the narrowing isthmus between Lakes Champlain and George. Near the northern end, it crosses the Essex County line. into the county, it reaches the first settlement along its length within the Adirondack Park, Ticonderoga. The highway skirts the northeastern edge of the village, the site of key battles in both the
French and Indian The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
and
Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...
Wars, as NY 74 comes in from the ferry to the east, the first intersecting state route since Whitehall, ending the longest such break on NY 22 at . The two routes overlap for almost until NY 74 goes straight ahead at the intersection with NY 9N, while NY 22 turns right to join NY 9N, the longest suffixed route in the state, and return to its northbound orientation for the longest of its concurrencies, at . At first, NY 22 and NY 9N veer west, away from the lake, but then return to its shoreline to avoid a nearby mountain, just before Crown Point. NY 185, a small connector road, runs from NY 9N and NY 22 along the peninsula to become VT 17. The road remains close to the widening lake for the next , with the tracks of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, used today by CSX for freight and Amtrak for passenger service between New York and Montreal, sometimes immediately to the east. After passing through Port Henry to Westport, where 9N leaves heading west for Elizabethtown. Beyond that junction, NY 22 again turns inland, going through the easy pass around Split Rock Mountain, going northwest to Wadhams where it turns northeast to Whallonsburg, then north. At Boquet, it makes an abrupt turn to go due east back to the lakeshore and ferry landing at Essex, where it connects to the Charlotte–Essex Ferry via Dock Street, leading to VT F-5 on the opposite side of Lake Champlain. The highway again follows the lakeshore to
Willsboro Willsboro is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, and lies south of the city of Plattsburgh. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 2,025. The town is named after early landowner William Gilliland. History During the Amer ...
, where NY 22 heads to the northwest again, inland, through dense forest, until it heads west and intersects US 9 in the town of Chesterfield, the other major north–south surface route up the state's eastern side. NY 22 and US 9 join, closely parallel to the Adirondack Northway ( I-87), the only other route in the state to directly connect New York City with Canada. The three routes, spread over many miles in the southern part of the state, run through a narrow corridor for until US 9 and NY 22 veer east again toward
Keeseville Keeseville is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Clinton and Essex counties, New York, United States. The population was 1,815 at the 2010 census. The hamlet was named after the Keese family, early settlers from Vermont. It developed along ...
. Here, NY 9N ends and US 9 and NY 22 separate, ending the last concurrency along the latter. The two will exchange corridors, with US 9 following the lake shore line while NY 22 remains mostly inland. NY 22 enters Clinton County just north of Keeseville, and then leaves Adirondack Park beyond at the Peru town line.


Clinton County

Just south of the hamlet of Peru, the short NY 442 terminates at NY 22. In the hamlet itself, after the Little Au Sable River crossing, NY 22's other suffixed route, NY 22B, branches off further inland. NY 22 continues north of Peru, and returns to the Northway's side again in a mile. After another , it has its first exit on the Northway near the now-closed
Plattsburgh Air Force Base Plattsburgh Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) base covering 3,447 acres (13.7 km²) in the extreme northeast corner of New York, located on the western shore of Lake Champlain opposite Burlingto ...
. It continues northeastward, crossing the Saranac River into
Plattsburgh Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...
, the first city and most populous community NY 22 has passed through since White Plains. NY 22 runs along South Catherine Street for a few blocks, then divides into one-way couplets for the first time since Westchester County, with northbound traffic moving a block to the east to follow Oak Street, while southbound traffic comes down North Catherine Street. It parallels US 9 for a couple of blocks, intersecting NY 3 (Cornelia Street) just a block west of its eastern terminus at that highway. After Boynton Avenue, the separate streets reunite and turns northwest just before it has its second and final exit with the Northway. Just after the exit, NY 374 begins along the westbound route as NY 22 turns to the north once again. The highway follows the railroad tracks into Beekmantown until it bears left at a fork, trending further west to Beekmantown Corners, where another short local road, County Route 58, formerly NY 456, comes to its western end. After crossing into the next town, Chazy, NY 22 bears left again at another fork to drift further to the west. The terrain around the road becomes increasingly wooded, with long unbroken stretches of pine, in the northern portion of the town. This is briefly broken at another western terminus of a short local road, County Route 23, formerly NY 191, in the hamlet of Sciota. NY 22 continues past Sciota in a fairly straight north-northwesterly course through more woods with small home and farm clearings. Those yield to mostly fields just before the Great Chazy River, after which NY 22 enters the hamlet of Mooers. NY 22 comes to an end upon intersecting US 11.


History


In popular culture

The road is celebrated and described in
Benjamin Swett Photographer and writer Benjamin Swett was born on March 3, 1959, in Washington, D.C. Educated at Andover and Harvard University, he worked for a number of years for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, where he photographed and wr ...
's 2007 photographic travelogue, ''Route 22''.


Old roads

The road from the modern-day Bronx (then part of Westchester County) through White Plains to Bedford and points north was originally an old Native American path. This path was later used and widened by the first European settlers. During colonial times, the road was known as "the road to Bedford and Vermont". Further north, near Lake Champlain, the route now used by NY 22 was used by the
St. Francis Indians The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was ...
of Canada as they went south to find warmer fishing areas. The old road was also used heavily during the American Revolution to transport iron south from the mines in the Adirondacks. Once White Plains became the county seat of
Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...
in 1759, the road between the village and the city of New York (then encompassing only Manhattan) became an important route and was established as the White Plains Post Road. Before 1797, the main road heading to points north and east out of Manhattan went via Kingsbridge along the old
Boston Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into one of the first major highways in the United States. The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Ro ...
. A new bridge over the Harlem River (the original
Harlem Bridge The Third Avenue Bridge carries southbound road traffic on Third Avenue over the Harlem River, connecting the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City. It once carried southbound New York State Route 1A. Th ...
) was opened in 1797, shortening the route out of Manhattan. This also relocated the Boston and White Plains Post roads to a new alignment along Third Avenue and Boston Road. The White Plains Post Road separated from the Boston Post Road in Bronxdale, with the road to Boston heading east and the road to White Plains heading north. The old White Plains Post Road roughly followed the alignment of modern-day '' White Plains Road'', which was laid out in 1863. (The original post road was to the east of the modern-day avenue). The White Plains Post Road continued north through Olinville, Wakefield, and Mount Vernon, where the route shifted east to modern-day White Plains Post Road, going through Bronxville and Scarsdale to White Plains. The stretch from Salem to the Vermont border in Granville was part of the old
Northern Turnpike New York State Route 40 (NY 40) is a north–south state highway in eastern New York in the United States. It is long and runs from NY 7 in the city of Troy north to NY 22 in the town of Granville. NY 40 also passes ...
, which began in
Lansingburgh Lansingburgh was a village in the north end of Troy. It was first laid out in lots and incorporated in 1771 by Abraham Jacob Lansing, who had purchased the land in 1763. In 1900, Lansingburgh became part of the City of Troy. Demographics Lansi ...
and went along modern-day NY 40. The Northern Turnpike was chartered on April 1, 1799.


Public ownership

In 1868, the New York State Legislature formed a commission "to regulate, grade, widen, gravel, and improve the old White Plains Post Road", which was amended in 1870 to "macadamize the road" between Mount Vernon and White Plains. The post road south of Mount Vernon, which was part of New York City, was later widened between 1902 and 1908.
State highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
s were first formally defined by the state legislature in 1909 and given numeric designations, although these initial designations were not publicly signed. Portions of modern NY 22 were defined as part of legislative routes 1 and 22. Legislative route 1 went from the New York City line north along the White Plains Post Road to White Plains, then detoured to Harrison (via Westchester Avenue), before proceeding north to Armonk (via modern NY 120). Legislative route 1 continued north along modern NY 22 to Austerlitz, where it then turned northwest to Valatie (via modern NY 203 and NY 980B), then followed US 9 to Albany. Legislative route 22 had two segments. The southern segment began in Troy, following NY 7 to Hoosick, then went north along modern NY 22 up to Putnam Station (south of Ticonderoga).


NY 22 designation

In 1924, New York signed several major state roads with route numbers. Most of Legislative Route 1 was designated as NY 22, but with a direct route between White Plains and Armonk. Also, instead of continuing to Valatie, NY 22 initially ended at the NY 23 intersection in Hillsdale. By 1929, the road to Valatie had been improved and NY 22 was extended to US 9, with a length of . The middle section of modern NY 22 was designated in 1924 as NY 24, running for from
Stephentown Stephentown is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,903 at the 2010 census. The town, which was originally Jericho Hallow in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was renamed for Stephen Van Rensselaer. The town is lo ...
to Comstock. The portion of modern NY 22 north of Whitehall remained unnumbered in 1924 but the next year NY 30, a route assigned in 1924 that linked
Mechanicville Mechanicville is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,196 at the time of the 2010 census. It is the smallest city by area in the state. The name is derived from the occupations of early residents. The city is lo ...
to Whitehall, was extended north from Whitehall to the Canadian border north of Mooers. In the
1930 renumbering In January 1930, the U.S. state of New York implemented a major renumbering of its state highways. Many previously existing numbered routes were renumbered or realigned. At the same time, many state highways that were previously unnumbered recei ...
, the NY 24 and NY 30 designations were both reassigned elsewhere. NY 22 was then extended north along their former routes, incorporating newly improved roads between Austerlitz and
Stephentown Stephentown is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,903 at the 2010 census. The town, which was originally Jericho Hallow in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was renamed for Stephen Van Rensselaer. The town is lo ...
, creating the route that existed until 2008. The segment of old NY 22 between Austerlitz and Valatie was renumbered to NY 203. In 1934, at the insistence of the Automobile Club of New York, several numbered routes were extended and signed within New York City, with NY 22 among them. It was extended south from the Mount Vernon line in the Bronx along White Plains Road, then following East 233rd Street to Webster Avenue until Fordham Road ( US 1). From there, it continued south along the Grand Concourse (then overlapped with NY 100), crossing into Manhattan via East 149th Street to the
145th Street Bridge The 145th Street Bridge is a four-lane swing bridge across the Harlem River in New York City, connecting 145th Street (Manhattan), 145th Street and Lenox Avenue in Manhattan with 149th Street and River Avenue in the Bronx. The bridge is operate ...
. In Manhattan, the NY 22/100
concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
continued south along Lenox Avenue,
110th Street 110th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is commonly known as the boundary between Harlem and Central Park, along which it is known as Central Park North. In the west, between Central Park West/Frederick Dougl ...
,
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
, 96th Street, and Park Avenue, ending at Houston Street ( NY 1A). By 1941, the alignment within Mount Vernon was shifted east to use Columbus Avenue and South 3rd Avenue (current NY 22), continuing its route to New York City via East 233rd Street as before. On January 1, 1970, the NY 22 designation was removed from Manhattan and most of the Bronx, and the short piece remaining in the city was realigned to meet US 1 at NY 22's current southern terminus.


U.S. Route 7

In the original plan for the U.S. Highway System, as approved by the Bureau of Public Roads in November 1926, US 7 was defined as beginning in New York City and designated on the alignment of NY 22 to Amenia, where it shifted northeast into Sharon, Connecticut, to use old New England Route 4 through Massachusetts and Vermont all the way to the Canadian border. Apparently New York did not approve this plan, and by mid-1927 the official route log published by the
American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...
had relocated the southern end of US 7 to
Norwalk, Connecticut , image_map = Fairfield County Connecticut incorporated and unincorporated areas Norwalk highlighted.svg , mapsize = 230px , map_caption = Location in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County and ...
.


NY 9N concurrency

In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, the stretch from Ticonderoga to
Keeseville Keeseville is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Clinton and Essex counties, New York, United States. The population was 1,815 at the 2010 census. The hamlet was named after the Keese family, early settlers from Vermont. It developed along ...
now concurrent with NY 9N was designated solely as NY 22. The north end of NY 47 was also located at an intersection with NY 22 in Ticonderoga. At Westport, NY 22 connected to NY 195, an east–west highway leading to Elizabethtown. At the time, Route 9N only extended from there to Keeseville. NY 9N was extended southward to Lake George , supplanting Routes 47 and 195 and becoming concurrent with NY 22 between Ticonderoga and Westport. NY 8 originally extended eastward from Hague to a ferry across Lake Champlain at Putnam when it was assigned as part of the renumbering. In between the two locations, the route utilized modern NY 9N, Montcalm Street, NY 22, and Wrights Ferry and Wrights roads. It was realigned in the early 1930s to continue east from Ticonderoga on what is now NY 74 to another ferry across the lake. NY 8 was altered again to follow NY 22 north from Ticonderoga to Crown Point, where it turned off the highway onto Bridge Road (now NY 185). Route 8 remained intact along this routing until , when Route 8 was truncated southwestward to NY 9N at Hague.


Realignments

Over the course of many years, several sections of NY 22 were straightened, realigned to new roads, or both. Some old alignments are still either county-maintained or state-maintained. Several of these are in
Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organ ...
. In
Dover Plains Dover Plains is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 1,323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...
, the southern leg of NY 22's junction with NY 343 is maintained by the state as NY 980G, a reference route. To the north in the town of Amenia, a loop off NY 22 between Wassaic and Amenia is designated as CR 81. Another former routing of NY 22 in the town of
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
exists as CR 6, a loop route between the hamlets of Wingdale and Dover Plains that runs along the west bank of the Ten Mile River. Within the 44/22 concurrency, part of CR 5 (and its short spur 5S), a mile-long (1.6 km) loop west of the highway south of Millerton, is also a former alignment of NY 22. Before the construction of I-684, NY 22 continued northeast along Sodom Road north of Brewster on what is now CR 50, a dead-end road maintained by Putnam County. Modern NY 22 joins the I-684 roadway at exit 10 (the northern terminus of I-684) and connects to the surface road on the opposite side of the Croton River via the NY 981B connector. South of Copake Falls, the state also still maintains an old alignment designated as NY 980F. North of Copake Falls, the northern half of the original alignment was designated as an extension of NY 344.


Mooers area

The segment of NY 22 north of US 11, named Hemmingford Road, was state-maintained until 1988, when ownership and maintenance of that part of the route was transferred to Clinton County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the county and the state of New York. Following the swap, it was co-designated as CR 34 by Clinton County. In 2008, the signed northern terminus of NY 22 was moved to the eastern end of its overlap with US 11 in Mooers. The official alignment of NY 22 was not changed, however, as the
New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...
still considered the Canadian border to be NY 22's northern terminus until 2014.


Major intersections


Suffixed routes

NY 22 has two suffixed routes, both in the
North Country North Country may refer to: Places * North Country, Cornwall, England * North Country, the northern third of New Hampshire, U.S. ** Great North Woods Region (New Hampshire) * North Country (New York), a region of Upstate New York ** North Country ...
. * NY 22A () is a spur connecting NY 22 to the Vermont state line south of Fair Haven. Once in Vermont, the route becomes VT 22A. The route was assigned in the early 1940s. * NY 22B () is a bypass around the southern and western extents of
Plattsburgh Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...
. NY 22B begins at NY 22 in Peru and continues north through
Schuyler Falls Schuyler Falls is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Clinton County, New York, Clinton County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 5,181 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The town was named a ...
to Morrisonville, where it terminates at NY 3 near
Clinton County Airport Clinton County Airport is a former county-owned public-use airport in Clinton County, New York, Clinton County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located west of the central business district of the city of Plattsburgh. It served ...
. It was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.


See also

* New York State Bicycle Route 22 County route systems containing a former alignment * List of county routes in Clinton County, New York *
List of county routes in Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County, New York maintains a system of signed county routes primarily to serve local traffic between the various communities in the county. Route numbers below 100 generally increase progressively based on the alphabetical order of the tow ...
* List of county routes in Putnam County, New York * List of county routes in Westchester County, New York


Notes


References


External links


NY 22 Travelogue @ Empire State Roads


{{DEFAULTSORT:New York State Route 022 022 Transportation in the Bronx Transportation in Westchester County, New York Transportation in Putnam County, New York Transportation in Dutchess County, New York Transportation in Columbia County, New York Transportation in Rensselaer County, New York Transportation in Washington County, New York Transportation in Essex County, New York Transportation in Clinton County, New York U.S. Route 7