New York State Route 39 (NY 39) 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 ...

in the western portion 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 * '' ...

in the United States. It begins and ends at intersections with U.S. Route 20 (US 20) apart. The western terminus of NY 39 is east of Fredonia in the Chautauqua County town of Sheridan, while the eastern terminus is in the Livingston County village of Avon. At its east end, NY 39 also ends at

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, Sy ...

, which is

concurrent 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 ...

to US 20 at this point. NY 39 serves several villages, including Gowanda and Geneseo, and intersects a handful of major north–south highways, such as US 219 in Springville 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 ...

near

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

. Most of the route is a two-lane highway that passes through rural, undeveloped areas. NY 39 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York to an alignment extending from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

in the east via Pike, Dansville, and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. From Pike eastward, NY 39 used large parts of modern NY 436 and NY 245. At the time, what is now NY 39 northeast of Pike was part of then-NY 245 from Pike to

Perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also made ...

and US 20 from outside of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

to Avon. US 20 was realigned between Geneseo and East Avon to follow a more easterly alignment via Lakeville, at which time the Geneseo–Avon highway became New York State Route 20D. Over the next decade, the Pike–Perry–Avon highway underwent several designation changes, culminating with the realignment of NY 39 onto it . The route was cut back to its current western terminus in the mid-1960s.

Route description

All but of NY 39 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). The lone non-state-maintained segment lies within the village of Geneseo, where the route is maintained by the village from the east end of the

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 ...

with US 20A to North Street, a local east–west street four blocks to the north of US 20A.

Sheridan to Gowanda

NY 39 begins at an intersection with US 20 at the southern extent of the town of Sheridan, located northeast of the village of Fredonia and southeast of the city of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Chautauqua County routes. The most notable of these is County Route 85 (CR 85), which was once NY 428 north of where it meets NY 39 in the hamlet of Forestville. Although NY 39 crosses many county routes as it makes its way across the towns of Sheridan and

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, it does not intersect another state-maintained route until it crosses into Cattaraugus County. Across the county line, NY 39 enters the hamlet of Perrysburg, centered around the route's junction with CR 58, locally known as North Road. South of this point, CR 58 was once part of NY 353. US 62 through Gowanda

To the east, NY 39 briefly turns northward before following West Main Street eastward into the creekside village of Gowanda. It continues east to the village's business district, located adjacent to

Cattaraugus Creek Cattaraugus Creek is a stream, approximately long, in western New York in the United States.US 62. The two routes form a northward concurrency, jointly occupying West Main Street to the bridge traversing Cattaraugus Creek a mere to the northeast, where the road name becomes East Main Street and the county becomes Erie County on the other side of the waterway. US 62 and NY 39 break from East Main Street later, following Buffalo Street northward through a mostly residential neighborhood. At the northern edge of the village, the two routes change direction again, turning east onto Sandhill Road. Buffalo Street continues to be a touring route, however, as NY 438 continues north on Buffalo Street toward the

Cattaraugus Indian Reservation Cattaraugus Reservation is an Indian reservation of the federally recognized Seneca Nation of Indians, formerly part of the Iroquois Confederacy located in New York. As of the 2000 census, the Indian reservation had a total population of 2,412. ...

Erie County and vicinity

Outside of Gowanda, US 62 and NY 39 take on a more northerly routing to the town of

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

, where the two routes split in the town center. US 62 continues northward towards Buffalo on Gowanda–Buffalo Road while NY 39 takes Main Street east out of town. In Collins Center to the east, NY 39 intersects the southern terminus of the Sisson Highway, NY 75. Past the hamlet, NY 39 heads generally northeastward across of open areas to the village of Springville. West of the village, NY 39 meets the Southern Expressway ( US 219) at an interchange. Not far to the east is a junction with the heavily commercialized Cascade Drive, the newer of US 219's two former routings through Springville. NY 39 continues east past Cascade Drive and into the village, where it becomes Main Street. In the village's central business district, NY 39 crosses Buffalo Street, US 219's original alignment through Springville. The route continues on, meeting NY 240 at the eastern village line before proceeding into another rural area dominated by farmlands. From Springville to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, NY 39 closely parallels the northern bank of Cattaraugus Creek as it heads to the northeast. The route crosses the creek later in the town of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, where it intersects NY 16 east of the town center. NY 16 and NY 39 come together for a brief overlap that leads NY 39 south across the creek and back into Cattaraugus County. They split just south of the creek in the town of

, at which point NY 39 heads east for to enter Wyoming County.

Wyoming County

In the neighboring village of Arcade, NY 39 remains Main Street, acting as the primary east–west road through town. It crosses two railroad lines, the

Buffalo Line The Buffalo Line is a railroad line owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. The line runs from Buffalo, New York southeast to Rockville, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania along a former Penns ...

that is owned by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

and operated by the

Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in New York and Pennsylvania. The BPRR is owned by Genesee & Wyoming. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, conne ...

and the

Arcade and Attica Railroad The Arcade & Attica Railroad is a shortline railroad that hauls freight between Arcade and North Java, New York. The railroad originally connected Arcade with Attica, however the right of way from North Java north to Attica was abandoned in 1957 ...

(ARA), by way of two

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 ...

s immediately after entering the village. The route continues on through the lightly developed western half of Arcade, crossing the ARA a second time before both reach the more populated village center. Here, the railroad crosses NY 39 a third and final time before connecting to

NY 98 New York State Route 98 (NY 98) is a state highway in the western part of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in the town of Great Valley in ...

at Liberty Street. That route overlaps with NY 39 for a mere east to Water Street, where NY 98 resumes its northward trek toward

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

. After another , Arcade abruptly ends, giving way to more fields of farmland, a common sight along NY 39 from here eastward. NY 19 and NY 39 in Pike

About northeast of Arcade in the hamlet of

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

, NY 39 intersects the southern terminus of NY 362, a short north-south connector linking NY 39 to NY 78. After another , NY 39 connects to the north–south

outside of the hamlet of

. At this point, NY 39 turns to the northeast, a direction that it proceeds in for most of the remainder of its routing. The first of this stretch overlaps with NY 19, which eventually splits from NY 39 to proceed north to

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 sp ...

. NY 39 continues on, connecting to the western terminus of NY 436 in the hamlet of

Lamont Lamont or LaMont may refer to: People *Lamont (name), people with the surname or given name ''Lamont'' or ''LaMont'' * Clan Lamont, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Lamont, Alberta, a town in Canada * Lamont County, a municipal district in Albert ...

before intersecting

NY 19A New York State Route 19A (NY 19A) is a north–south state highway in western New York in the United States. It is an alternate route of NY 19 between the town of Hume (at the hamlet of Fillmore) and the vicinity of the village of ...

southwest of the village of Castile. NY 19A, an easterly alternate route of NY 19, merges with NY 39, following the latter for to an unorthodox intersection southwest of the village. Heading west on NY 39, traffic is diverted onto a ramp leading to NY 19A, where commuters must turn left onto NY 19A to continue west on NY 39. Eastbound NY 39, however, has no such configuration, allowing eastbound traffic to remain on NY 39 through the intersection. Between Castile and the village of Perry, NY 39 assumes a slightly more northerly alignment, paralleling the edges of

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

a half-mile to the northwest and

Letchworth State Park Letchworth State Park is a List of New York state parks, New York State Park located in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County and Wyoming County, New York, Wyoming County in the western part of the New York (state), State of New York. T ...

to the southeast. Upon entering Perry, NY 39 shifts to a northeasterly alignment once again as it intersects NY 246 in the village center. East of the village, NY 39 switches counties for the final time as the road crosses into Livingston County.

Livingston County

Northeast of where NY 39 enters the county but southwest of the village of Leicester, NY 39 intersects US 20A in an area known as Pine Tavern. The two routes fuse together and head northeast to Leicester, where they descend into a valley surrounding the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

and form a short concurrency with

NY 36 New York State Route 36 (NY 36) is a north–south state highway in the western part of New York in the United States. The highway extends for from the Pennsylvania state line at Troupsburg, Steuben County northward to Ogden, Monro ...

in the village center. NY 36 enters from the north and travels east along US 20A and NY 39 for prior to continuing south to Pennsylvania, leaving US 20A and NY 39 to continue east. They serve Cuylerville, a small hamlet on the outskirts of Leicester, before crossing over the Genesee River and climbing the eastern face of the valley to reach a junction with NY 63. Like NY 19A near Castile, NY 63 overlaps US 20A/NY 39 for just before it forks from the route at the southernmost point of the

SUNY Geneseo The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a public liberal arts college in Geneseo, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The colle ...

campus.

While NY 63 runs along the western edge of the college, US 20A and NY 39 follow the eastern edge of SUNY Geneseo northward to the village center. Here, the two routes meet

Mary Jemison Mary Jemison (''Deh-he-wä-nis'') (1743 – September 19, 1833) was a Scots-Irish colonial frontierswoman in Pennsylvania and New York, who became known as the "White Woman of the Genesee." As a young girl she was captured and adopted into a Se ...

Drive, an east–west street that serves that the only connection between NY 39 west and NY 63 north. At the same intersection, US 20A and NY 39 turn east onto South Street; however, the concurrency terminates just one block later at Main Street. Here, NY 39 turns north, leaving US 20A to proceed east toward the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

. Outside of Geneseo, NY 39 becomes Avon Road, a name it retains to the outskirts of the village of Avon. As it enters Avon, the farmlands give way to more developed, mostly residential areas. Now named Wadsworth Avenue, NY 39 passes west of a large

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

plant that occupies a large portion of southwestern Avon. North of the plant, the route heads past residential neighborhoods to the west and commercial establishments situated on the

Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad The Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is a short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States. The railroad interchanges with CSX at Genesee Junction in Chili, New York, the Rochester and Sou ...

(LAL) to the east. NY 39 ends about from the plant at a junction with US 20 and

west of the center of Avon and just west of where those two routes cross the LAL at-grade.

History

The modern routing of NY 39 between Geneseo and Avon was originally designated as part of

in the mid-1920s. Around the same time, the piece between Pine Tavern and Geneseo became part of NY 35. In 1927, the portion of NY 35 between

East Aurora East Aurora is a village in Erie County, New York, United States, southeast of Buffalo. It lies in the eastern half of the town of Aurora. The village population was 5,998 per the 2020 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Met ...

and Geneseo and the segment of NY 36 from Geneseo to Avon were incorporated into US 20, a new cross-state

U.S. Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

that continued east from Avon toward Albany and west from Pine Tavern toward Buffalo. As a result, NY 36 was truncated to its junction with US 20 in Leicester. In Avon, US 20 was routed on Wadsworth Avenue, Spring Street, and Genesee Street. NY 39 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and originally extended from NY 20A (now

) in

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.city of Geneva. In between, NY 39 passed through the villages of

, Dansville,

, and Rushville. The portion of the route from Dansville to Geneva had previously been designated as

NY 52 New York State Route 52 (NY 52) is a state highway in the southeastern part of the state. It generally runs from west to east through five counties, beginning at the Pennsylvania state line in the Delaware River near Narrowsburg, cros ...

. At the same time, a highway connecting Pike to Perry Center via Castile and Perry village was designated as NY 245. US 20 was realigned between Geneseo and East Avon to use NY 254 (current US 20A) and NY 2 (now

NY 15 New York State Route 15 (NY 15) is a north–south state highway located in western New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is officially at Interstate 390 (I-390) exit 3 south of the village of Wayl ...

) instead. The former routing of US 20 between Geneseo and Avon was redesignated as NY 20D. NY 245 was realigned north of Perry to follow a new highway (modern NY 39) to an intersection with US 20 southwest of Leicester . US 20 was realigned to follow its modern routing between Hamburg and Avon. Its former alignment between Hamburg and Geneseo became part of NY 20A, which continued north from Geneseo to Avon over NY 20D. By the following year, the Hamburg–Geneseo segment of NY 20A was included in the new US 20A while the Geneseo–Avon portion became part of a realigned NY 254. The routings of NY 39 and NY 245 east of Pike were swapped in the fall of 1939, placing NY 245 on a routing extending from Pike to Geneva and NY 39 on its modern alignment to Leicester. NY 39 was also extended northeast to Avon as part of the change, supplanting NY 254. The portion of NY 39 within Avon was rerouted to follow Wadsworth Avenue to West Main Street (US 20 and NY 5) in the early 1950s. In Dunkirk, NY 39 originally began at the intersection of East Lake Shore Drive (NY 5) and Main Street. From there, it followed Main Street, Franklin Avenue, and Roberts Road to US 20. NY 39 was truncated to its current western terminus east of the city in the mid-1960s; however, the portion of its former routing outside of the Dunkirk city limits remained state maintained as an unsigned reference route, NY 837. On April 1, 1980, ownership and maintenance of it was transferred from the state of

to Chautauqua County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government. The Roberts Road segment of NY 39's former alignment is now part of CR 81 while the Main Street portion is now the northernmost part of NY 60.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:New York State Route 039 039 Transportation in Erie County, New York Transportation in Wyoming County, New York Transportation in Chautauqua County, New York Transportation in Cattaraugus County, New York Transportation in Livingston County, New York U.S. Route 20