New York State Route9N (NY9N) is a north–south state highway in northeastern New York in the United States. It extends from an intersection with U.S. Route9 (US9), NY29, and NY50 in the city of Saratoga Springs to a junction with US9 and NY22 in the Clinton County hamlet of Keeseville. At 143.49 miles (230.92km) in total length, NY9N is the longest letter-suffixed route in the state. It is concurrent with its parent route for 1 mile (1.6km) in the village of Lake George and for three blocks in the hamlet of Elizabethtown.
The NY9N designation was originally created as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York to replace New York State Route9W, a route assigned to an alternate routing of US9 from Elizabethtown to Keeseville. NY9N was extended southward to Lake George in March1936 and to Saratoga Springs in the early 1950s, supplanting several other routes (including New York State Route9K) in the process.
NY9N begins at the intersection of Church Street, Broadway (US9, NY29 westbound, and NY50) and Lake Avenue (NY29 eastbound) in the city of Saratoga Springs. Situated on the northwestern corner of the junction is the city's post office. The route heads west, following Church Street out of the city's center.[3] At Bensonhurst Avenue, ownership and maintenance of NY9N shifts from the city of Saratoga Springs to the New York State Department of Transportation.[4] As NY9N exits the city limits and enters the town of Greenfield, it turns to follow a more northerly routing. It meets County Route21 (CR21) just north of the town line, where the Church Street name ends, and CR36 (Wilton Road) 2.5 miles (4.0km) to the north in the hamlet of Greenfield Center.[3]
Saratoga Springs post office and first reassurance shield at NY9N's southern terminus
The route continues on into the town of Corinth, where it crosses the Blue Line into Adirondack Park. Not far to the north, NY9N enters the village of Corinth, situated on the west bank of the Hudson River. The highway follows Saratoga Avenue and Maple Streets into the village center, where it turns north and exits the village on Main Street. NY9N follows the western edge of the river north for roughly 4 miles (6km) through the towns of Corinth and Hadley before crossing over it and passing from Saratoga County to Warren County.[3]
Warren County
Across the county line in Lake Luzerne, NY9N begins to deviate from the Hudson River, gradually curving to the northeast as it passes through the hamlets of Lake Luzerne, Fourth Lake, and Lake Vanare, all of which are named for small lakes bearing those names near the center of the communities. Just northeast of Lake Vanare, NY9N enters the town of Lake George, where it connects to I-87 (the Adirondack Northway) at exit21 and meets US9.[3] Here, it joins its parent route northward toward the village of Lake George. The conjoined routes intersect the northern end of NY9L just south of the village line before becoming Canada Street and entering the village limits upon crossing over West Brook. US9 and NY9N serve as the primary north–south thoroughfare through the village before splitting at the north end of the village. While US9 continues to the north, NY9N heads northeast along the western edge of Lake George.[3]
The portion of NY9N between Lake George village and Hague is relatively isolated, with mountains lining the western edge of the highway and the lakeshore located to the immediate east. Along this stretch, NY9N serves numerous lakeside hamlets, the southernmost of which is Diamond Point, a community just south of the Lake George–Bolton town line. The route continues on, passing through the hamlets of Bolton and Bolton Landing, the latter of which is home to The Sagamore, a resort situated on an island in Lake George.[3]
View of NY9N from the North End Trailhead in Bolton.
North of Bolton Landing, the route leaves the main lake and instead follows the edge of Northwest Bay, an inlet separated from Lake George itself by a large, mountainous peninsula. The bay abruptly ends about 2 miles (3.2km) to the north, at which point NY9N curves to the east and proceeds through a pass in the mountains to rejoin the western edge of Lake George at Sabbath Day Point in the town of Hague. Here, the route turns back to the north and follows Lake George to the hamlet of Hague, where it meets the northern (signed as the eastern) terminus of NY8. NY9N continues to serve as the lakeside roadway for another 3 miles (5km) before curving away from the lake and entering Essex County.[3]
Essex and Clinton counties
Looking north on NY-9N/NY-22, Essex County
Now in the town of Ticonderoga, NY9N passes through a valley before curving to the east and entering the hamlet of Ticonderoga. For the most part, NY9N bypasses the community as it turns north onto Wicker Street, the westernmost north–south through street in the hamlet. Northwest of the former village's center, NY9N meets NY22 and NY74, the latter of which serves as a northerly bypass of Ticonderoga. NY22 joins NY9N here, following the route out of the hamlet.[3]
NY9N and NY22 head generally northward through an area of lowlands, which eventually give way to Lake Champlain as the conjoined routes pass into the town of Crown Point. Once again, NY9N serves as the lakeside highway as it follows the western edge of the lake through the hamlet of Crown Point to the peninsula that gives the town its name. While NY9N and NY22 pass by Crown Point to the west, NY185 directly serves the peninsula and the Crown Point State Historic Site, located at its tip.[3]
The routes continue northward along the lakeshore through the town of Moriah and the village of Port Henry to the town of Westport, where NY9N and NY22 split in the hamlet of Westport. While NY22 continues north towards Essex, NY9N heads west to follow a more inland routing through a series of narrow valleys. NY9N intersects I-87 once again at exit31 just before entering the town of Elizabethtown. The route continues west, passing over the Bouquet River and entering the hamlet of Elizabethtown, where it rejoins US9 in the former village's center. Unlike the overlap in Lake George, this concurrency lasts for only three blocks before the two routes split.[3]
NY9N continues to the west for 12 miles (19km) through deep, narrow valleys to Keene, where it meets NY73 north of Keene Valley. Here, NY9N turns north, joining NY73 for 2 miles (3.2km) to the hamlet of Keene, located on the east branch of the Ausable River. NY73 heads off to the west from this point toward Lake Placid; however, NY9N follows the river northward into the town of Jay, where it intersects the east end of NY86. The highway continues alongside the western bank of the river branch to the hamlet of Au Sable Forks, situated on the Essex–Clinton County line and at the point where the Ausable River's east and west branches come together.[3]
The highway enters Au Sable Forks from the south on South Main Street and becomes North Main Street upon crossing the west branch of the river and entering Clinton County and the town of Black Brook. NY9N immediately turns east upon crossing the river, following Ausable Street out of the hamlet and along the northern edge of the Ausable River into the town of Au Sable. Here, NY9N meets I-87 one final time at exit34 just southwest of the village of Keeseville. NY9N continues on into Keeseville, where it meets NY22 once again at an intersection across the river from the village center. NY22 and NY9N come together once more, overlapping for 0.25 miles (0.40km) to an intersection with US9 a short distance downstream from the center of Keeseville. NY9N comes to an end here while NY22 turns south onto US9.[3]
History
NY9N and US9 facing towards Lake George Village in 1973Map of the area surrounding Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs, with former NY9K highlighted in red
In 1908, the New York State Legislature created Route22, an unsigned legislative route that was initially split into two segments. The northern half of the route ran from Riparius to Rouses Point and mostly followed what is now US9 between the two locations. From Elizabethtown to Keeseville, however, Route22 followed a more westerly alignment via Keene, Jay, and Au Sable Forks.[5][6] When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924, all of legislative Route22 north of Riparius became part of NY6, which continued south toward Glens Falls on what is now US9. At the same time, the section of modern NY9N between Saratoga Springs and Lake George was designated as part of NY10.[7][8] The portion between Ticonderoga and Westport became part of a realigned NY30 by the following year.[9]
By 1926, the piece of current NY9N from Hague to Ticonderoga was designated as the easternmost leg of NY47, which continued west to Chestertown on modern NY8.[8] In 1927, most of NY6 north of Round Lake was replaced by US9 when U.S. Highways were first signed in New York.[10] The lone exception was between Elizabethtown and Keeseville, where US9 followed a previously unnumbered highway to the east instead. The bypassed section of NY6 between the two locations was redesignated as NY9W at this time.[8][11] NY9W was renumbered to NY9N as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, eliminating the alphanumerical duplication between itself and US9W.[2]
NY47, meanwhile, became part of the new NY8 in the 1930 renumbering, allowing the NY47 designation to be reassigned to a previously unnumbered roadway along the western shore of Lake George between NY8 in Hague and US9 in Lake George village. At the same time, NY10 was realigned south of Long Lake and replaced with NY9K from Saratoga Springs to Lake George while the roadway connecting Ticonderoga to Westport became part of NY22 after NY30 was reassigned elsewhere in the state.[12] The segment of modern NY9N from Westport to Elizabethtown, previously unnumbered, was designated NY195.[2]
NY9N was extended south to Lake George in March1936, supplanting both NY47 and NY195 in an effort to aid tourists.[13] From Westport to Hague, NY9N overlapped with NY22 (from Westport to Ticonderoga) and NY8 (from Crown Point to Hague).[14][15] The route was extended once more in November1953 to its current southern terminus in Saratoga Springs, replacing NY9K and creating a short overlap with US9 through Lake George village in the process.[16] The overlap with NY8 was eliminated in the mid-1960s when that route was truncated to end at its junction with NY9N in Hague.[17][18]
↑Automobile Legal Association (ALA) (1925). Automobile Green Book (1925ed.). Scarborough Motor Guide Co.
↑Automobile Blue Book. Vol.1 (1927ed.). Chicago: Automobile Blue Book, Inc. 1927. This edition shows U.S. Routes as they were first officially signed in 1927.
