U.S. Route 15 - History

History

Until 1974, US 15 continued north of NY 17 and entered Painted Post on North Hamilton Street. At what is now the junction of Steuben County Route 41 and New York State Route 415 in downtown Painted Post, US 15 turned north onto NY 415. At the northern terminus of NY 415, located at NY 15 and New York State Route 21 south of Wayland, US 15 followed the current routing of NY 15 into downtown Rochester, where it terminated at New York State Route 31.

US 15 has shed considerable length in near-continuous realignment and regrading over the years. Prior to the completion of the Tioga Creek flood-control project, hastened by the flooding caused after Hurricane Agnes along the Pennsylvania and New York segments of US 15 in June 1972, US 15 passed through many small towns in Pennsylvania as it passed from Lawrenceville, at the New York border, to West Milton, where the road begins to follow the west bank of the Susquehanna River. Originally a winding two-lane road over numerous mountains, 15 now bypasses many small towns such as Sebring, Blossburg, Covington, Canoe Camp and Hepburnville. In the 1970s, the challenging two-lane alignment was expanded in some areas to four lanes by building a second set of lanes. Now, for some streches, the "old" road is the northbound side and in other sections, the southbound side.

Near Mansfield, Pennsylvania the old Route 15 alignment is now a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) access road leading to a boat ramp, built where the old road now disappears into the Tioga Reservoir. Near Tioga, Pennsylvania, drivers crossing the tall concrete bridge can see where a two-lane road (formerly Route 15), still marked with double-yellow lines, disappears into the water.