NY60 begins at an intersection with US62 (West Main Street) in the town of Kiantone, just west of the hamlet of Frewsburg. NY60 heads northwestward through Kiantone as Stillwater–Frewsburg Road, entering the hamlet of Stillwater. There, NY60 intersects with County Route380 (CR380; Busti Stillwater Road / Peck Settlement Road) and CR49 (Kiantone Road) and is known as Foote Avenue Extension. At this intersection, NY60 turns northward through Kiantone, changing names to Foote Avenue as it enters the city of Jamestown. NY60 is at this point a four-lane commercial arterial through the southern end of the city, passing to the west of Allen Park and soon bending to the northwest, where it forks off Foote Avenue onto NYS Arterial Highway, passing to the north of Fenton Park. NY60 then crosses the Washington Street Bridge over West Harrison Street, the Chadakoin River, and the former Erie Railroad's Meadville Division and near the former Jamestown Diesel Shop, constructed in the early 1950s.[4] As Washington Street, NY 60 continues into the business district of downtown Jamestown.[5]
NY60 northbound continues through downtown Jamestown, now known as Washington Street, approaching NY394
as a four-lane local street heading northward through the city for 3 blocks. At the intersection with West Fifth Street, NY60 turns eastward onto the street, forming a concurrency with NY394 until North Main Street, where NY60 turns left off of NY394 east. After the split, NY60 intersects with NY394 westbound at Sixth Street, before continuing as North Main Street, a residential street through the northern sections of Jamestown. After crossing 23rd Street, NY60 intersects with Fluvanna Avenue. The road continues northward, passing Lake View Cemetery and an intersection with CR61 (West Oak Hill Road) before entering the town of Ellicott, where NY60 enters interchange 12 of the Southern Tier Expressway (I-86/NY17). After the interchange, the route continues northward as North Main Street Extension, passing Moon Brook Country Club.[5]
Now north of Jamestown, NY60 begins to become a two-lane rural highway, passing to the northeast and serving an industrial park adjacent to Jamestown Airport in Ellicott. NY60 soon turns to the northwest, bending northward into the hamlet of Kimball Stand. In Kimball Stand, NY60 crosses over but does not intersect with CR380 (North Work Street) once again. A short distance later, it intersects with CR44 (Old Route 60), which serves as the eastern terminus for the county route. Until 1980, this intersection served as the southern terminus for NY380, eliminated in 1980.[6] Continuing north out of Kimball Stand, NY60 enters the town of Gerry. After crossing a creek, the route turns to the northeast, intersecting with CR65 (Gerry-Levant Road), which NY60 turns to the northwest on. The former right-of-way continues to the northeast as CR50 (Gerry-Ellington Road). NY60 heads northwestward as the main street through the hamlet of Gerry, soon abandoning the hamlet for the rural backdrop to the north. The route becomes a northward residential street, until intersecting with CR77 (Jamestown Road) in the village of Sinclairville. The route bends to the northwest again, crossing over but not intersecting with CR66 (Sinclair Drive). After leaving Sinclairville, NY60 re-enters the town of Gerry, becoming a rural farm road before entering the town of Charlotte.[5]
NY60 at CR58 in Cassadaga
Through Charlotte, NY60 continues northward as a two-lane local road, entering the hamlet of Moons, which consists of a few farms and residences. The route becomes largely rural once again through Charlotte, turning to the northwest and intersecting with CR75 (Nelson Road). A short distance after, NY60 leaves Charlotte for the town of Stockton and into the village of Cassadaga, where it gains the moniker of South Main Street. The route becomes primarily residential, intersecting with the terminus of CR58 (Maple Avenue). This intersection served as the northern terminus of NY424, a designation eliminated in 1980.[7] At the northern end of Cassadaga, NY60 intersects with the western terminus of CR72 (Bard Road). Paralleling the nearby Upper Lake, the route leaves the village for the town of Pomfret, becoming a two-lane roadway through woods and some residences through the hamlet of Shumla. Shumla consists of several residences before entering the hamlet of Laona, where NY60 intersects with the northern terminus of NY83. Laona consists of several farms and residences before leaving north of the intersection with Eagle Road.[5]
NY60 southbound in Dunkirk, erroneously signed as US60
Leaving Laona, NY60 continues northward through a rural backdrop bending to the north at an intersection with Lakeview Road. After this point, NY60 enters the village of Fredonia, where it gains the moniker of Bennett Road after a roundabout intersection with US20 (East Main Street). NY60 becomes a four-lane arterial through Fredonia, entering interchange 59 off the New York State Thruway (I-90). After the interchange, NY60 crosses over the Thruway, and continues as a four-lane road into the town of Dunkirk as Bennett Road. NY60 passes St. Mary's Cemetery and Jamestown Community College before crossing over a former Nickel Plate Railroad line[8] and enters the city of Dunkirk as Lamphere Street until East Seventh Street. After that intersection, NY60 becomes known as Maple Drive until Sixth Street, where it becomes Main Street. The route passes some businesses before crossing under a former New York Central Railroad line[8] currently used by CSX Transportation. A short distance after the underpass, NY60 reaches its northern terminus at the intersection with NY5 (Lake Shore Drive) near the shores of Lake Erie.[5]
US62 was extended into New York c.1932. From the Pennsylvania state line to Frewsburg, US62 initially overlapped NY60.[10][11] The overlap was eliminated in the 1940s when NY60 was truncated northward to its junction with US62 in Frewsburg.[12][13] In the mid-1960s, construction began on a new alignment for US62 between the Pennsylvania state line and NY60 west of Frewsburg.[14][15] The highway opened to traffic as a realignment of US62 by 1972. As a result, NY60 was truncated to its junction with the new US62 roadway and the routing of former NY60 to Frewsburg became part of US62 on July1, 1972.[16]
NY60 was realigned in the early 1960s to bypass Fredonia to the east on a newly upgraded highway leading from Laona to Reed Corners (US20). From there, NY60 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.[14][17] By 1968, the idea of constructing a new roadway was dropped and NY60 was altered to use Bennett Road, Lamphere Street, and Main Street instead to reach East Lake Shore Drive (NY5).[15][18] The section of Main Street north of Franklin Street had been part of NY39 from 1930 to the mid-1960s, when NY39 was cut back to its current western terminus.[9][14][15]
The former routing of NY60 between Laona and US20 in the center of Fredonia remained state maintained as an unsigned reference route for over a decade after it ceased to be part of NY60.[19] On April1, 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.[20] The highway is now internally designated as County Highway140 by Chautauqua County;[21] however, it does not have a signed number.[citation needed]
NY60 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.[22]
↑Yanosey, Robert J. (2006). New York. Erie Railroad Facilities in Color. Vol.2: NY. Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Morning Sun Books. p.76. ISBN1-58248-196-2.
