New York State Route 446 (NY 446) is a state highway in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. The highway extends for on a northeast–southwest alignment from an intersection with NY 16 north of the

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 ...

of Hinsdale to a junction with NY 305 in the village of Cuba. It parallels the

Southern Tier Expressway New York State Route 17 (NY 17) is a major state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in Mina and follows the Southern T ...

( NY 17 and Interstate 86 or I-86) very closely for its entire length. NY 446 was originally designated as part of Route 4, 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, ...

, in 1908. The Hinsdale–Cuba highway received its first posted designation in 1924 when it was included as part of NY 17. It was renumbered twice, becoming part of NY 63 in 1930 and NY 408 in the 1940s, before gaining its current designation on July 1, 1974.

Route description

NY 446 begins at an intersection with NY 16 in the Hinsdale hamlet of Maplehurst, located a quarter-mile (0.40 km) north of exit 27 on the

(I-86 and NY 17) and roughly north of the larger community of Hinsdale. The route heads northeast through the town of Hinsdale along the base of a valley surrounding Oil Creek. While NY 446 follows the north bank of the creek, the Southern Tier Expressway and the adjacent Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad (WNYP) run along the southern bank. Near the Cattaraugus– Allegany county line, Route 446, Oil Creek, and the WNYP all turn east toward

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

; however, the expressway continues on a northeasterly alignment to bypass the village to the north. Upon entering Allegany County, NY 446 passes under the Southern Tier Expressway and becomes known as Water Street as it enters Cuba from the west upon traversing Oil Creek. The route continues eastward for three blocks to NY 305 (Genesee Street), where both Water Street and NY 446 terminate approximately a quarter-mile (0.40 km) south of exit 28 on the Southern Tier Expressway.

History

All of modern NY 446 was originally designated as part of Route 4, a cross-state unsigned

defined by the

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 officia ...

in 1908. Route 4 continued south from Hinsdale on what is now NY 16 and east from the village of Cuba on County Route 20. The legislative route system was replaced by the modern state route system in 1924, at which time most of Route 4 was designated NY 17, including from Hinsdale to Cuba. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY 17 was moved onto a more southerly alignment (now NY 417) between Olean and Wellsville. Its former routing between Hinsdale and the Amity hamlet of Belvidere became the southwesternmost part of the new NY 63, which continued north from Belvidere to the

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

shoreline. NY 63 was rerouted south of Mount Morris in the early 1940s to follow its current alignment to Wayland. The former alignment of NY 63 from Hinsdale to Mount Morris was redesignated as NY 408. In the early 1970s, construction began on the portion of the

between Olean and Corning. From Hinsdale to Belvidere, the new highway closely followed NY 408. By 1974, the highway was open from Olean to Hinsdale and from Almond to Corning. The segment between Hinsdale and

NY 19 New York State Route 19 (NY 19) is a north–south state highway in Western New York in the United States. It is the longest state highway in that region, and the only other one besides NY 14 to completely transect the state ...

in Belvidere was completed by January 1975, and the leg between Belvidere and Almond opened to traffic on January 30, 1975, completing the Olean–Corning portion of the expressway. The bypassed section of NY 408 between Cuba and Belvidere was subsequently transferred to Allegany County, and NY 408 was truncated to its current southern terminus in Nunda as a result. The portion of NY 408's former routing between Hinsdale and Cuba was retained as a state highway and renumbered to NY 446 on July 1, 1974.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Good article 446 Transportation in Allegany County, New York Transportation in Cattaraugus County, New York

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links