New York State Route 162 (NY 162) is a
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 ...
in eastern
New York in the United States. It runs from an intersection with
U.S. Route 20 (US 20) in the
Schoharie County
Schoharie County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 29,714, making it the state's fifth-least populous county. The county ...
town of
Esperance to an interchange with
NY 5S in the
Montgomery County town of
Root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...
, west of the
village of Canajoharie. The southernmost of the route are concurrent with
NY 30A
New York State Route 30A (NY 30A) is a state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. It serves as a westerly alternate route of NY 30 from near the Schoharie County village of Schoharie to the Fulton Cou ...
, which continues south of NY 162's intersection with US 20. NY 162 is a two-lane highway for all of its length, although its final has a climbing lane southbound as it leaves the
Mohawk Valley over the
Sprakers Gorge. The route was assigned as part of the
1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and realigned slightly in the late 1960s to bypass an accident-prone stretch near its northern terminus.
Route description
NY 162 begins at an intersection with
US 20 and
NY 30A
New York State Route 30A (NY 30A) is a state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. It serves as a westerly alternate route of NY 30 from near the Schoharie County village of Schoharie to the Fulton Cou ...
in Sloansville, a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
within the
town of Esperance. The route proceeds northward,
overlap
Overlap may refer to:
* In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram.
* In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases
* O ...
ping with NY 30A as the two-lane highway passes through residential areas of the town. After leaving Sloansville, NY 162 and NY 30A turn northwestward into a
Y intersection
A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T i ...
that marks the north end of the overlap. While NY 30A continues north, NY 162 bends northwest to a nearby junction with the western terminus of
County Route 35 (CR 35, named Shun Pike Road). For a short distance from CR 35, NY 162 proceeds westward through Esperance, turning northwest at a junction with Sprakers Road. Now a two-lane rural roadway, the route enters the town of
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
, running near the base of Corbin Hill.
![NY 162S at Schoharie 35](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/NY_162S_at_Schoharie_35.jpg)
The highway continues northwest through Carlisle before crossing the line into
Montgomery County from
Schoharie County
Schoharie County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 29,714, making it the state's fifth-least populous county. The county ...
. After crossing into Montgomery County, NY 162 crosses into the town of
Charleston, bending northwest through the town. The scenery in Charlestown does not change from where it was in Carlisle, as NY 162 remains a two-lane rural road. A short distance later, NY 162 enters the hamlet of Charleston Four Corners, where it intersects with Corbin Hill Road (
CR 104), East Lykers Road (
CR 103) and Charleston Street (
CR 134). NY 162 continues northwest out of Charleston Four Corners, remaining a two-lane road as it crosses into the town of
Root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...
.
In Root, NY 162 intersects with South Green Road (
CR 126), before turning north past several farmhouses. Bending northwest once again, NY 162 bypasses the hamlet of Rural Grove, intersecting with the southern and northern termini of Rural Grove Road (
CR 125). Just to the northwest of Rural Grove, the route intersects with the northern terminus of Lynk Street (
CR 99) before entering the rural hamlet of Currytown. In Currytown, there is a junction with Currytown Road (
CR 105) while NY 162 passes several residences on both sides of the highway. At the western end of Currytown, the route intersects with Flat Creek Road (
CR 98), where it turns northwest through the town of Root.
NY 162 continues northwest through Root, intersecting with Hilltop Road (
CR 96) and Sprakers Hill Road (
CR 108). Now with the moniker of Sloansville Road, NY 162 enters the hamlet of Sprakers, where it crosses a tributary of the
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...
. The route continues to the community's western edge, where NY 162 ends at an interchange with
NY 5S just south of the
New York State Thruway (
I-90). NY 162 northbound merges with westbound NY 5S, and a U-turn lane just west of the merge also provides access to NY 5S east.
History
The origins of NY 162 date back to the late 1900s when the section of the route north of Rural Grove was improved to state highway standards under a project contracted out on September 20, 1907. It was added to the state highway system on July 14, 1910, as
unsigned
Unsigned can refer to:
* An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label
** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists
** Unsigned band web, online community
* Similarly, the c ...
State Highway 304 (SH 304).
The remainder of the Sloansville–Sprakers highway was reconstructed .
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. One of these roads was the Sloansville–Sprakers state highway, which was designated NY 162.
At its north end, NY 162 was originally routed on Sprakers Hill Road, a winding, hilly highway directly serving Sprakers. The design of the road left it prone to several accidents each year; additionally, the brakes of northbound tractor-trailers would often fail as drivers tried to descend the hill.
Various safety measures were implemented by the
New York State Department of Public Works The office of Superintendent of Public Works was created by an 1876 amendment to the New York State Constitution. It abolished the canal commissioners and established that the Department of Public Works execute all laws relating to canal maintenan ...
(NYSDPW) in response to the frequent accidents. Northbound truck drivers were forced to travel in low gear, and three
runaway truck ramps were constructed at the tight curves along the highway for trucks whose brakes had failed. Additionally, the existing signage along the road was supplemented by new warning signs.
More substantial changes to the road were suggested as early as March 1958 when several local
grange hall
The Grange, officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and ...
s petitioned then-Governor
W. Averell Harriman to eliminate the curves altogether by straightening the road. In 1964, NYSDPW unveiled plans for a new bypass that would avoid the accident-prone route and meet NY 5S at an interchange west of Sprakers. The contract for the $2.4 million project (equivalent to $ in ) was let in January 1967, and the highway took about two years to construct.
Sprakers Hill Road is now maintained by
Montgomery County as
CR 108.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
External links
{{NYSR external links, type=N, nyroutes=yes, termini=yes, route=162
Empire State Roads – Interchange of the Week, April 28, 2001
162
Transportation in Montgomery County, New York
Transportation in Schoharie County, New York