New York State Route 408 - History

History

Most of what is now NY 408 was originally part of one of several unsigned legislative routes assigned by the New York State Legislature 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 via Dansville and Mount Morris. Route 15 mostly followed modern NY 36; 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 52 miles (84 km) to a junction with NY 16 in Hinsdale, a hamlet in eastern Cattaraugus County.

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 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 Angelica to Dalton along current CR 16, CR 15B, and NY 70. 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.

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 Southern Tier Expressway was constructed alongside NY 408 from Hinsdale to Angelica, leading to the truncation of NY 408 to its current southern terminus in Dalton c. 1975. The portion of NY 408's former routing between NY 70 and Main 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.