New York State Route 408 (NY 408) 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 ...

located entirely within

Livingston County, New York Livingston County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,834. Its county seat is Geneseo. The county is named after Robert R. Livingston, who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and ...

, in the United States. It runs north–south from an intersection with

NY 70 New York State Route 70 (NY 70) is a short state highway in the western portion of New York in the United States. It travels through three different counties in just and is the primary road to and from the village of Canaseraga. The ...

near 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 Dalton in the town of Nunda to a junction with NY 63 in the town of Groveland near NY 408's exit with

Interstate 390 Interstate 390 (I-390) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway located entirely within New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the Southern Tier Expressway (I-86 and New York State Route 17 Y 17 ...

(I-390). Most of NY 408 is a two-lane rural highway that passes through lightly developed areas; however, the last two miles (3 km) of the highway, where it runs in a due east–west direction, are heavily trafficked as NY 408 becomes a key connector road in both directions. The origins of NY 408 date back to the early 20th century when the portion of the route north of the village of Nunda became part of two 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, ...

s. One of the two, Route 15, utilized the segment of modern NY 408 northeast of Mount Morris, and this segment became part of the signed

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 mid-1920s. Most of the route remained unnumbered until the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, however, at which time NY 36 was moved off the highway and all of what is now NY 408 became part of NY 63. That route was realigned as well in the early 1940s to head southeast from Mount Morris to Dansville, giving way to NY 408. NY 408, like its predecessor, initially extended southwest from Dalton to Hinsdale in

Cattaraugus County Cattaraugus County (locally known as Catt County) is a county in Western New York, with one side bordering Pennsylvania. As of the United States 2020 census, the population was 77,042. The county seat is Little Valley. The county was created ...

via

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They grow t ...

. During the first few years of its existence, NY 408 had an easterly alternate route between Angelica and Dalton. The route, designated New York State Route 408A (previously New York State Route 63A), became part of NY 408 itself in 1949. NY 408 was cut back to its current southern terminus on July 1, 1974 following the construction of 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 Souther ...

between Hinsdale and Angelica.

Route description

NY 408, also known in the area as Nunda–Dalton Road, begins at a quiet intersection with

at the

of Dalton in the southern portion of the town of Nunda. It follows a mostly straight and rural road, save for one easterly deviation to bypass a hill, for to the village of Nunda, where it takes the name State Street. In the center of the village, NY 408 intersects NY 436, another route of regional importance. From Nunda, it continues as Mount Morris–Nunda Road in the same direction for the next 10 miles (16 km) through open farmland and meadows in the towns of Nunda and Mount Morris. Midway along this stretch, County Route 3 (CR 3), formerly the westernmost portion of NY 258, leaves to the east. NY 408 from Mt Morris to I-390

North of Nunda, NY 408 roughly parallels the eastern edge of

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 ...

, gradually getting closer to the park as it proceeds onward. Eventually, the route connects to the park at its northeast entrance, but subsequently curves to the northeast to enter the village of Mount Morris on Chapel Street. In the village's business district, NY 408 joins the village's main street,

, for one wide block north to State Street. Here, NY 408 breaks from NY 36 and leaves Mount Morris in a more easterly direction. A slight descent starts a straight route across the low-lying

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

next to 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 I-390 is visible in the distance. There is almost no development on this portion due to the wetlands; however, there is 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 the

Genesee and Wyoming Railroad The Genesee and Wyoming Railroad was a flagship short-line railroad owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. The G&W Railroad was the small Western NY salt-hauling railroad that ran between Retsof, New York, and Caledonia, New York, only long, and beg ...

subdivision of the

Rochester and Southern Railroad The Rochester and Southern Railroad , a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., is a class III shortline that runs from the city of Rochester in Monroe County to Silver Springs, NY. The RSR started in 1986, when the B&O sold off its Buffalo a ...

. Immediately after crossing

Canaseraga Creek Canaseraga Creek is a stream that flows through Livingston, Steuben, and Allegany Counties in western and central New York. It is a tributary of the Genesee River, and its watershed is the largest sub-watershed of that river. The creek's name ...

, a tributary of the Genesee River, NY 408 meets I-390 at the freeway's exit 7. Just northeast of the interchange is a junction with NY 63, where NY 408 comes to an end. NY 63, meanwhile, turns north here to follow the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

of NY 408 northward on Mount Morris–Geneseo Road toward the village of Geneseo. Although I-390 passes close to Geneseo, there is no exit for the village itself; instead, the connection is made via exit 7 (NY 408 and NY 63) heading northbound and exit 8 ( U.S. Route 20A) heading southbound. As a result, the segment of NY 408 between I-390 and NY 63 has the second-highest traffic volume of any section of the route—an estimated 9,400 vehicles per day as of 2009. In fact, the piece of NY 408 from Mount Morris east sees far higher traffic volumes than the remainder of the highway, with the part that

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 * Ove ...

s NY 36 carrying an average of 11,680 cars per day in 2009.

History

Most of what is now NY 408 was originally part of one of several unsigned

s assigned 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 official ...

in the early 20th century. In 1908, the portion northeast of Mount Morris became part of Route 15, which initially extended from Hornell to

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

via Dansville and Mount Morris. Route 15 mostly followed modern

; however, from Dansville to Mount Morris, it used what is now NY 63 and NY 408 instead. In 1911, the Nunda–Mount Morris segment of modern NY 408 was included in Route 43, a highway leading southwestward from Mount Morris to Portageville via Nunda. West of Nunda, Route 43 utilized today's NY 436. The remainder of modern NY 408 did not become part of a legislative route; however, it was taken over by the state of New York by 1926 nonetheless. Although the entirety of modern NY 408 was state-maintained by 1926, only one section of the route—the portion designated as part of legislative Route 15—was assigned a posted route number by that time. In the mid-1920s, this piece was designated as part of NY 36, which initially continued north to Geneseo on modern NY 63. It remained part of NY 36 until the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York when NY 36 was altered to exit Mount Morris to the north instead. Its former routing from Mount Morris to Geneseo became part of the new NY 63, which originally continued southwest from Mount Morris for to a junction with NY 16 in Hinsdale, a

in eastern

. NY 63 left Mount Morris on the former routing of legislative Route 43 and followed it south to the village of Nunda, from where it continued to the hamlet of Dalton over the previously unnumbered Dalton–Nunda state highway. Past Dalton, NY 63 proceeded southwest to Hinsdale by way of Old State Road, what is now Allegany County's CR 15, CR 16, and CR 20 (with a brief concurrency with

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 ...

separating CR 16 and CR 20), and modern NY 446. Also assigned as part of the renumbering was NY 63A, an easterly alternate route of NY 63 from

to Dalton along current CR 16, CR 15B, and

. Prior to 1930, the Hinsdale– Amity (Belvidere) segment of NY 63 was part of NY 17 while the portion of NY 63A south of what is now NY 70 was the westernmost portion of

NY 38 New York State Route 38 (NY 38) is a north–south state highway in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with NY 96 in the town of Owego in Tioga County. The north ...

. NY 63 continued to pass through Mount Morris until the early 1940s, at which time it was rerouted south of Mount Morris to follow its current alignment through Dansville to Wayland. NY 63's former routing to Hinsdale was redesignated as NY 408 while NY 63A was renumbered accordingly to NY 408A. The NY 408A designation was short-lived, however, as NY 408 was realigned on January 1, 1949, to follow NY 408A from Angelica to Dalton. In the early 1970s, the

was constructed alongside NY 408 from Hinsdale to Angelica, leading to the truncation of NY 408 to its current southern terminus in Dalton on July 1, 1974. The portion of NY 408's former routing between NY 70 and Church Street in Dalton remained state-maintained until April 1, 1983, when ownership and maintenance of the road was transferred to Livingston County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government. It was subsequently designated as CR 24A.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{NYSR external links, type=N, nyroutes=yes, termini=yes, route=408

408 __NOTOC__ Year 408 (Roman numerals, CDVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Bassus and Philippus (or, less frequentl ...

Transportation in Livingston County, New York

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links