New York State Route 317 (NY 317) is a long
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 ...
within the
town of Elbridge in
Onondaga County, New York
Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse.
Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA.
History
The name ''Onondaga'' derives fro ...
, in the United States. It begins at an intersection with
NY 5
New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syrac ...
in the
village of Elbridge and ends at a junction with
NY 31
New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 104 in the city of Niagara Falls. Its ea ...
in the village of
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. The highway is known locally as Jordan Road and Main Street.
The route was once part of the
Jordan and Skaneateles Plank Road, a
plank road
A plank road is a road composed of wooden planks or puncheon logs. Plank roads were commonly found in the Canadian province of Ontario as well as the Northeast and Midwest of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. They were oft ...
established by a
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
charter in the 1850s. It spanned a short distance from Jordan to the
village of Skaneateles and was a successor to the
Auburn and Syracuse Railroad
The Auburn and Syracuse Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1834, to provide easy access between Syracuse, New York, and the Erie Canal. Construction was begun in 1835, but was delayed during the Panic of 1837. Although the economic downturn lin ...
, which ceased operations in 1834. However, the plank road lasted less than two decades. In 1866, the Legislature granted another charter, this time creating the Skaneateles Railroad and its corporation, which bought out most of the plank road company.
The alignment of NY 317 south of Jordan was originally County Route 105 (CR 105), a highway maintained by Onondaga County. The highway paralleled Valley Drive, which was designated as New York State Route 31C in the 1930s and located on the opposite (western) side of
Skaneateles Creek
Skaneateles Creek is a river in New York, the United States. It drains Skaneateles Lake to the Seneca River. It flows through Skaneateles, Skaneateles Falls, Mottville, Elbridge, and Jordan before joining the Seneca River, about 2 miles northw ...
. In 2002, heavy flooding of the creek washed out a portion of Valley Drive. A bill to transfer maintenance of most of Valley Drive from the 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
* '' ...
to local governments in exchange for maintenance of CR 105 was subsequently passed by the New York State Legislature and took effect April 1, 2003, at which time the NY 31C designation was removed. The former CR 105 and the portion of former NY 31C in Jordan were designated as NY 317 at the same time.
Route description
![First NY 317 shield northbound](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/First_NY_317_shield_northbound.jpg)
NY 317 begins at an intersection with
NY 5
New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syrac ...
(Main Street) and South Street (
CR 122) in the
Onondaga County
Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse.
Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA.
History
The name ''Onondaga'' derives from ...
village of
Elbridge Elbridge may refer to several places:
Places
;In the United States
* Elbridge Township, Edgar County, Illinois
* Elbridge Township, Michigan
* Elbridge, New York, town
* Elbridge (village), New York
Elbridge is a village. Located in the western pa ...
. The route heads northward from the central intersection, passing a small commercial lot to the west and several residential homes to the north and west. Just to the west of the highway is Valley Drive, formerly NY 31C, which parallels NY 317 for its entire length. Separating NY 317 and Valley Drive is
Skaneateles Creek
Skaneateles Creek is a river in New York, the United States. It drains Skaneateles Lake to the Seneca River. It flows through Skaneateles, Skaneateles Falls, Mottville, Elbridge, and Jordan before joining the Seneca River, about 2 miles northw ...
, which runs between the two highways.
After a short distance in the village, NY 317, known as Jordan Road, continues northwest into the surrounding
town of Elbridge, where roadside development ends and the highway passes through predominantly open fields. It loosely parallels Skaneateles Creek, turning slightly northward and northwestward to match curves in the waterway. It is during the latter northwest–southeast stretch that Valley Drive ends at a
cul-de-sac
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet.
The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...
amongst the woods that line the creek.
![NY Route 317 in Jordan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/NY_Route_317_in_Jordan.jpg)
A short distance to the northwest, Valley Drive resumes near Crego Road. On NY 317, the highway passes Maple Grove Cemetery, a small graveyard located in Elbridge. After this comes the intersection with Crego Road, one of two connectors between Valley Road and NY 317. NY 317 then intersects with Whiting Road (
CR 183), which heads to the east, before entering the village of
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
.
In Jordan, NY 317 becomes Elbridge Street and turns west to intersect the northern terminus of Valley Drive. The highway proceeds through the southern portion of the village and crosses Skaneateles Creek to reach a junction with South Main Street. NY 317 turns north onto Main Street and has intersections with Mechanic Street (
CR 60) and North Hamilton Street (designated as
CR 271 south of Jordan) before it terminates at a junction with
NY 31
New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 104 in the city of Niagara Falls. Its ea ...
north of the village center but within the village limits.
History
Jordan and Skaneateles Plank Road
The modern routing of NY 317 was originally the northern part of the Jordan and Skaneateles Plank Road. Chartered in 1855,
the Jordan and Skaneateles Plank Road Company was set to provide a
plank road
A plank road is a road composed of wooden planks or puncheon logs. Plank roads were commonly found in the Canadian province of Ontario as well as the Northeast and Midwest of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. They were oft ...
from
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
southward to
Skaneateles. This plank road was constructed in the 1850s in place of the Syracuse and Auburn Railroad and a small railroad from Skaneateles to Skaneateles Junction, two crude railroads that were in the area which had ended service in 1836 and 1850 respectively.
On March 25, 1853, the
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.
The Assem ...
proposed an additional toll gate to be constructed in Elbridge along the plank road.
On June 15, 1853, the bill was passed by the Legislature and went into effect.
Although the plank road company lasted less than two decades, it had its share of controversy. In the January 1853 case of ''Wilson v. Rochester and Syracuse Railroad Company'', Wilson, the plaintiff, was traveling southbound along the plank road through
Elbridge Elbridge may refer to several places:
Places
;In the United States
* Elbridge Township, Edgar County, Illinois
* Elbridge Township, Michigan
* Elbridge, New York, town
* Elbridge (village), New York
Elbridge is a village. Located in the western pa ...
. At a
grade crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...
with railroad tracks, Wilson fell off his horses and wagon upon hitting the tracks. He then fell onto the tracks below and was permanently injured as a result.
In 1861, during ''Jordan & Skaneateles Plank Road Company vs. Morley'', the company sued Morley for evading the toll in Elbridge. Morley countered that the road was in disrepair. However, on the plaintiff's side, the toll collector was aware that Morley had passed through the toll gate but took no action to enforce the toll. If Morley had paid, he would have been liable for $62.50
(equivalent to $ in ).
On April 17, 1866, the plank road company was bought out by the Skaneateles Railroad Company. The state chartered the bill, the railroad was constructed and tolls were to be collected by the railroad company rather than the plank road company.
Designation
In 1908, Valley Drive, a narrow, winding road along the western bank of Skaneateles Creek in the
town of Elbridge, was included in Route 20, an unsigned
legislative route
In the United States, a legislative route (LR) or legislative highway is a highway defined by laws passed in a state legislature. The numbering of such highways may or may not correspond to the numbers familiar to the public as part of the state, ...
extending from
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
in the west to Elbridge in the east.
The highway was gradually taken over by the 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
* '' ...
, beginning with the segment between the Elbridge and Jordan village lines. This section of Valley Drive was legislatively designated as part of State Highway 487 (SH 487) and added to the state highway system on November 2, 1908. The portion within Elbridge was included in the state highway system on December 7, 1911, as part of SH 5080. The Jordan segment was added to the state highway system as part of SH 5630 sometime after 1920.
![New York Route 317 old alignments map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/New_York_Route_317_old_alignments_map.svg)
Valley Drive received its first posted designation in the mid-1920s when it was designated as NY 31A, a spur route of
NY 31
New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 104 in the city of Niagara Falls. Its ea ...
that linked NY 31 in Jordan to
NY 5
New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syrac ...
in Elbridge. The designation was short-lived, however, as the route became the northernmost portion of
NY 41 in the
1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. NY 41 was truncated to its present northern terminus in
Skaneateles . Its former routing between Elbridge and Jordan was redesignated as NY 31C.
NY 31C remained unchanged until 2002 when part of Valley Drive was washed out by flooding from the nearby creek. A bill (S6534, 2002) was introduced in the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan com ...
on March 18, 2002,
that would transfer ownership and maintenance of CR 105, an alternate route between Jordan and Elbridge on the eastern bank of Skaneateles Creek, from
Onondaga County
Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse.
Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA.
History
The name ''Onondaga'' derives from ...
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 ...
and give Valley Drive to the town of Elbridge and the villages of Jordan and Elbridge.
S6534 was passed by the State Senate on April 29 and by the Assembly on June 20. It was signed into law by Governor
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
on August 6, 2002,
and took effect April 1, 2003.
![NY 31C bridge over Skaneateles Creek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/NY_31C_bridge_over_Skaneateles_Creek.jpg)
On April 1, 2003, NY 31C was effectively renumbered to NY 317
and rerouted south of the intersection of Valley Drive and Elbridge Street in Jordan to follow the former CR 105 to Elbridge. The washed-out section of Valley Drive was never repaired, leaving Valley Drive as two separate dead end streets.
The New York State Department of Transportation has made plans to remove the bridge carrying Valley Drive (former NY 31C) over Skaneateles Creek in the town of Elbridge. Demolition of the structure is scheduled to begin in mid-2014 and cost $300,000.
Once removed, the bridge, built in 1921,
will not be replaced.
Major intersections
See also
*
List of county routes in Onondaga County, New York County routes in Onondaga County, New York, are not signed in any form, serving as little more than references for inventory purposes. One county route, County Route 91 (CR 91), has route markers posted along its length; however, the signs ...
References
External links
{{New York State Route 31
317
Transportation in Onondaga County, New York