New York State Route 23B (NY 23B) is an east–west
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 ...
located in western
Columbia County, New York
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,570. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the ...
, in the United States. The route is a former section of
NY 23
New York State Route 23 (NY 23) is an east–west state highway in the eastern portion of New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with NY 26 in the Central New York town of Cincinnatus in Cortland County ...
that runs for from
NY 9G southwest of
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
to
NY 9H in
Claverack-Red Mills. It provides direct access to the city of Hudson from the
Rip Van Winkle Bridge
The Rip Van Winkle Bridge is a cantilever bridge
spanning the Hudson River between Hudson, New York and Catskill (village), New York, Catskill, New York. Affording of clearance over the water, the structure carries New York State Route 23, NY 2 ...
whereas NY 23 bypasses it to the south. NY 23B was assigned in the late 1950s after NY 23 was moved onto its current alignment south of Hudson.
Route description
NY 23B forks from its parent,
NY 23
New York State Route 23 (NY 23) is an east–west state highway in the eastern portion of New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with NY 26 in the Central New York town of Cincinnatus in Cortland County ...
, south of the city of
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
and a half-mile (0.8 km) east of the
Rip Van Winkle Bridge
The Rip Van Winkle Bridge is a cantilever bridge
spanning the Hudson River between Hudson, New York and Catskill (village), New York, Catskill, New York. Affording of clearance over the water, the structure carries New York State Route 23, NY 2 ...
in
Greenport,
Columbia County. The intersection borders the grounds of the
Olana State Historic Site
Olana State Historic Site is a historic house museum and landscape in Greenport, New York, near the city of Hudson. The estate was home to Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), one of the major figures in the Hudson River School of landscape pa ...
and is west of the
Columbia-Greene Community College campus.
NY 9G, concurrent with NY 23 west of this point, leaves NY 23 to follow NY 23B toward Hudson.
The route is the westernmost through route along the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
between the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and Hudson; however, it is separated from the river by Mount Merino, a peak situated above sea level.
From NY 23, the two-lane road heads northeast through rural, wooded areas until it reaches the city of Hudson.
Upon entering the Hudson city limits, NY 9G and NY 23B change from a state-maintained highway to a locally maintained street
as it traverses the marshy South Bay.
The routes continue into the commercial
downtown district, where they follow Third Street for several blocks to Columbia Street. Here, NY 9G and NY 23B veer east, following Columbia Street through the city to a junction with
US 9 at Park Place. NY 9G terminates here; however, NY 23B continues east on Columbia Street, now joined by US 9. Both routes curve onto Green Street one block later. At Fairview Avenue, US 9 splits from NY 23B and heads north while NY 23B heads southeastward as an independent route for the first time. NY 23B passes out of Hudson and back into Greenport after intersecting the southern terminus of
NY 66 at Columbia Street.
In Greenport, maintenance of NY 23B reverts to 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).
The route remains in Greenport for only , passing residential and industrial neighborhoods on the fringe of the city as it intersects the north end of
County Route 29 (Spook Rock Road). Just east of the junction, NY 23B traverses
Claverack Creek
Claverack Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 tributary to Stockport Creek in Columbia County, New York, in the United States. Its source is in the ...
and crosses into the town of
Claverack, where the route initially serves a sparsely developed area between the town line and the hamlet of Claverack-Red Mills. The open fields are gradually replaced by homes as the highway enters Claverack, where NY 23B meets
NY 9H and NY 23 at a junction in the center of the community. NY 23B ends here while NY 23 continues east on the route's right-of-way.
History
When the first set of posted routes in
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
* '' ...
were assigned in 1924, the portion of NY 23B from Third Street in
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
to
Claverack-Red Mills was designated as part of
NY 23
New York State Route 23 (NY 23) is an east–west state highway in the eastern portion of New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with NY 26 in the Central New York town of Cincinnatus in Cortland County ...
. West of Hudson, NY 23 continued across the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
by way of a
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
. The
Rip Van Winkle Bridge
The Rip Van Winkle Bridge is a cantilever bridge
spanning the Hudson River between Hudson, New York and Catskill (village), New York, Catskill, New York. Affording of clearance over the water, the structure carries New York State Route 23, NY 2 ...
over the Hudson River between
Catskill and
Greenport was opened to traffic on July 2, 1935; however, NY 23 was not realigned to use the structure until the Athens–Hudson ferry was shut down in the late 1940s. NY 23 utilized modern NY 23B between the bridge and Hudson.
In the late 1950s, NY 23 was realigned between the east end of the bridge and Claverack to follow a new, more southerly alignment via
Bell Pond. Its former routing via Hudson was redesignated as NY 23B.
Major intersections
See also
*
*
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:New York State Route 023b
023B
Transportation in Columbia County, New York