New York State Route474 (NY474) is a state highway located entirely within Chautauqua County in the westernmost corner of New York in the United States. It begins at the section of the Pennsylvania state line that runs north–south and runs eastward, initially paralleling the state line before taking a more northeasterly alignment toward Chautauqua Lake. The route ends adjacent to the lake at a junction with NY394 in the town of Busti. NY474 was originally designated as New York State Route74 in 1930 before being renumbered to NY474 on July1, 1972. The route continues westward into Pennsylvania as Pennsylvania Route 474 (PA474), which was assigned in the 1980s.
Route description
NY474 eastbound from the state line in French Creek
NY474 begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the town of French Creek as a continuation of PA474, which in turn begins a short distance west of the state line in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania. NY474 heads east through rural southwest Chautauqua County, briefly paralleling French Creek to the hamlet of Marvin before intersecting and briefly overlapping with NY426 through the small hamlet of Cutting. NY474 exits Cutting and continues on an easterly track into the town of Clymer and the hamlet of the same name, where it meets County Route15 (CR15), a local road leading from the Pennsylvania state line (where the road continues south to Corry) north to Sherman in the center of the community.[4]
East of the hamlet of Clymer, NY474 turns to the northeast, paralleling an old railroad bed to the community of North Clymer, where NY474 intersects the southern terminus of NY76. Outside of North Clymer, the route returns to an east–west alignment prior to entering the town of Harmony and the village of Panama (intersecting CR33 in the latter) in quick succession. NY474 continues on, passing through the Harmony hamlet of Blockville and the North Harmony community of Ashville before terminating at NY394 just west of the Lakewood village limits in the town of Busti.[4]
History
NY74 reference markers on NY474, referring to the former designation
All of what is now NY474 was originally designated as part of NY74 as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. NY74 also initially continued east from Lakewood to Jamestown by way of modern NY394. The remainder of what is now NY394 from Mayville south to Lakewood was designated as NY17J.[2] In the mid-1930s, NY17J was extended eastward along NY74 to rejoin NY17 at Washington Street in Jamestown.[5][6] The overlap was eliminated in the mid-1940s when NY74 was truncated to Ashville.[7][8] NY74 remained unchanged until July1, 1972 when it was renumbered to NY474. The change in number allowed for the NY74 designation to be used for the westward continuation of Vermont Route 74 in Essex County.[3] The short continuation of NY474 west to Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, was designated as PA474 in the 1980s.[9][10]
