New York State Route 415 - History

History

In 1908, the New York State Legislature created a system of unsigned legislative routes that spanned the state of New York. Two highways assigned at this time were Route 4, which extended from Westfield to West Point, and Route 14, a route beginning at the western city line of Corning and ending at the southern city limits of Rochester. Route 4 entered the vicinity of Corning on Hamilton Street and followed Hamilton to its junction with Water Street. From there, it overlapped Route 14 east to the Corning city limits, where Route 14 ended and Route 4 continued alone through the city on Water and Pulteney Streets. Route 14, meanwhile, exited the Corning area on Water Street and followed what is now NY 415 through Savona, Bath, and Avoca to Cohocton. In Cohocton, Route 14 veered north to follow modern NY 371 instead.

The first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924. In the vicinity of Corning, Route 4 became part of NY 17 while the portion of Route 14 from Painted Post to Cohocton was designated as part of NY 4, which also extended south to the Pennsylvania state line and north to Rochester via Wayland, Springwater, East Avon, and Henrietta. NY 4 was renumbered to NY 2 in 1927 to eliminate the numerical duplication between NY 4 and the new US 4 in eastern New York. Both NY 2 and NY 17 remained unchanged until 1938, when US 15 was extended northward from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Rochester along the routing of NY 2. NY 17 and US 15 were rerouted slightly in the late 1950s to follow Coopers–Bath Road through Painted Post instead.

Construction began c. 1962 on a bypass of NY 17 and US 15 in the vicinity of Corning (modern exit 45) and Painted Post (exit 43). The entirety of the highway, plus an extension northwest to Campbell (exit 41), was completed between 1964 and 1968. US 15 and NY 17 were rerouted to follow the new highway, and their former routings between Campbell and Corning were redesignated as NY 415. The route also continued eastward into downtown Corning, where it ended at the junction of Pulteney Street and Baker Street (NY 414). The portion of the US 15 / NY 17 freeway between Campbell and Avoca (exit 36) was completed by 1973; however, NY 415 continued to terminate in Campbell until the mid-1970s when it was extended north to a junction with NY 21 south of Wayland following the completion of I-390 between Avoca and Wayland. When the Corning Bypass (part of the Southern Tier Expressway) was built in the mid-1990s, NY 414 was rerouted to follow Centerway through the city. NY 415 was then extended east for two blocks to meet the new routing of NY 414.

Ownership and maintenance of NY 415 from Meads Creek Road in Coopers Plains to Babcock Hollow Road outside of Bath was transferred from the state of New York to Steuben County by 1977. The highway was co-designated as CR 415 at the time. On April 1, 1997, ownership and maintenance of this portion of NY 415 was given back to the state of New York as part of a larger highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government.