New York State Route 60 - History

History

When NY 60 was assigned in the mid-1920s, it began at the New York–Pennsylvania border southeast of Jamestown and ended at NY 5 (now US 20) in Fredonia. In between, the route passed through Frewsburg, Jamestown, and Cassadaga. From Laona to Fredonia, NY 60 was routed on Porter Avenue, Liberty Street, and Water Street. NY 60 was extended north to NY 20A (modern NY 5) in Dunkirk by way of Temple Street and Central Avenue as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.

US 62 was extended into New York c. 1932. From the Pennsylvania state line to Frewsburg, US 62 initially overlapped NY 60. The overlap was eliminated in the 1940s when NY 60 was truncated northward to its junction with US 62 in Frewsburg. In the mid-1960s, construction began on a new alignment for US 62 between the Pennsylvania state line and NY 60 west of Frewsburg. The highway opened to traffic as a realignment of US 62 by 1973. As a result, NY 60 was truncated to its junction with the new US 62 roadway and the routing of former NY 60 to Frewsburg became part of US 62.

NY 60 was realigned in the early 1960s to bypass Fredonia to the east on a newly upgraded highway leading from Laona to Reed Corners (US 20). From there, NY 60 was to follow a new highway to a point on Central Avenue near where it passes under the New York State Thruway, where it would continue into Dunkirk on its original alignment. By 1968, the idea of constructing a new roadway was dropped and NY 60 was altered to use Bennett Road, Lamphere Street, and Main Street instead to reach East Lake Shore Drive (NY 5). The section of Main Street north of Franklin Street had been part of NY 39 from 1930 to the mid-1960s, when NY 39 was cut back to its current western terminus.

The former routing of NY 60 between Laona and US 20 in the center of Fredonia remained state maintained as an unsigned reference route for over a decade after it ceased to be part of NY 60. On April 1, 1980, ownership and maintenance of the reference route was transferred from the state of New York to Chautauqua County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government. The highway is now internally designated as County Highway 140 by Chautauqua County; however, it does not have a signed number.

NY 60 has been particularly prone to a large number of automobile crashes that lead to fatalities. Since 1972, 82 fatal car crashes have been documented on the highway. The high traffic on the two-lane highway, which is the main road between Jamestown and Dunkirk, makes it difficult and dangerous for vehicles to pass.