New York State Route 300

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NY Route 300
Length:	14.67 mi[1] (23.61 km)
South end:	NY 32 / NY 94 in Vails Gate
Major junctions:	I-87 / Thruway in New Windsor I-84 in Newburgh
North end:	NY 208 in Wallkill
Counties:	Orange, Ulster
Numbered highways in New York < NY 299 NY 301 > Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference
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New York State Route 300 is a state highway near Newburgh, New York. Its southern terminus is the five-way intersection with NY 32 and NY 94 at Vails Gate. From there it runs northwest and north to its northern terminus at NY 208 near the hamlet of Wallkill. Its two major changes of direction are marked by slightly unusual intersections with other state highways.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Vails Gate to Interstate 84 1.2 North of Interstate 84 2 History 3 Major intersections 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Route description

Mileage numbers on the reference markers on 300 in Orange County go from north to south, in contrast to the practice elsewhere in the state.

[edit] Vails Gate to Interstate 84

From Vails Gate (also known as the Five Corners), Route 300, under the name Temple Hill Road, heads west-northwest past the New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site, where George Washington dismissed the Continental Army in 1783. Following that, at a junction with Orange County Route 69, it becomes Union Avenue. Under this name, it is concurrent with NY 207 (Little Britain Road) for 0.4 mile (643 m) when NY 207 comes in from the northeast. At the next junction, a traffic light just east of the New York State Thruway, NY 207 continues straight ahead to the west and Goshen while NY 300 turns right and heads north.

Here it expands to two lanes in both directions as it crosses from the Town of New Windsor into the Town of Newburgh. The next three miles (5 km) of NY 300 is the Newburgh area's main commercial strip, and Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Barnes & Noble and other chain stores have taken up residence there in recent decades, along with local favorites such as Adams Fairacre Farms. A middle turn lane has been added through here, past the NY 17K traffic light all the way up to NY 52.

North of NY 17K there are a few more hotels and offices and finally the junction with I-84 and the New York State Thruway-Interstate 87, which has long been a major problem on NY 300.

Traffic from the Thruway has historically been routed to 84 via the short stretch of NY 300 between them. Exit 17 has existed in its current configuration since the opening of the road, according to available maps^{[citation needed]}. I-84 was opened north and east of the junction in the early 1960s; west of the junction a decade later. At the time the Thruway was built there was little traffic on NY 300 (at that time, a county road); the completion of 84 and subsequent development of the NY 300 corridor has increased traffic volumes in the area significantly.

Presently, traffic leaves the freeway and encounters STOP signs and traffic signals while linking between roads. The inadequate cloverleaf design of the junction leads to problems, especially with articulateds, which must slow significantly to negotiate the sharp loop slips, and weave with traffic attempting to leave the freeway westbound. The 84 off-slips have STOP signs at the NY 300 termini; and there is no cloverleaf weaving area northbound through the junction. Southbound, traffic must weave to join NY 300, or bear right to join the Thruway.

For many years state and local officials had wanted to build a direct connection between 84 and the Thruway; federal funding did not become available until the very end of the 20th century and construction has only recently begun. The Thruway Authority has a project in the works to link junction 17 directly with the IH 84, bypassing NY 300; and reconstruction of the NY 300 and Interstate 84 junction (No. 7). Plans online show this as a diamond junction for the Interstate 84/NY 300 link; but there are signals in place for a left turn not shown in the Thruway Authority plans.

The junction between the Thruway and Interstate 84 works were begun in 2001 but the project was delayed when the original contractor for the job was found to have ties to organized crime^{[citation needed]}. As of May 2006 total work on the project consisted of

• a rebuilding of the eastbound Exit 7 off-slip,
• removal of the southbound NY 300 to eastbound 84 loop slip, *installation of a traffic light,
• routing of the southbound NY 300 to eastbound IH 84 movement via the same onslip that services the northbound NY 300 to Eastbound IH 84 movement.

The offslip for northbound junction 17 on the Thruway has been widened to two lanes and new signage has gone up on the northbound Thruway and westbound 84.

An additional complication to the project may arise because of severe pier deterioration on the NY 17K overpass immediately south of junction 17, which may require replacement of that bridge earlier than originally expected.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] North of Interstate 84

North of 84, NY 300 passes the modest Newburgh Mall and an assortment of other retail establishments until the commercial zoning finally ends at the NY 52 intersection, which marks the center of the area of the town of Newburgh known as Gardnertown, after early settler Silas Gardner, whose stone house is still in use just north of the intersection, past the Orange Lake outlet brook.

Here 300 reverts to two lanes immediately north of the NY 52 junction; Union Avenue leaves NY 300 to the northwest after the NY 52 junction, as a town road. Increaed traffic and poor visibility made this a dangerous intersection; accordingly, in 2005 the New York State DOT made left turns onto Union Avenue illegal. The number of accidents did not decrease at first due to widespread ignoring of the no left turn signs; however, increased vigilance by the Town of Newburgh Police has cut down significantly on accidents at this "Y" intersection. North of this junction, NY 300 passes the Town of Newburgh's municipal buildings (Town Hall and the Code Compliance Building, with Police Headquarters in the rear) and Gardnertown Magnet School of the Newburgh Enlarged City School District. After several more miles, it reaches the Town Court at the junction with NY 32, which marks the center of the area of town known as Cronomer Valley.

The junction with Route 32 has long been known locally as Holt's Corner in honor of a family which had long owned property and businesses at and near the intersection, members of which live in the vicinity of the intersection to this day.^{[citation needed][2]}

While the junction is a standard four-way intersection, the highways do not intersect as such. Instead, NY 300 turns left, heading west-northwest again toward Wallkill past the south end of Chadwick Lake, the town's reservoir. This section is also rural two-lane road, crossing the Thruway, on a bridge rebuilt in 2005, and featuring the only integrated pier cap type bridge to be found in the area. NY 300 enters Ulster County near the top of Kings Hill, one of the highest elevations in the town.

As it runs across the eastern half of the Town of Shawangunk, it trends to a more westerly direction before terminating at the junction with NY 208 northwest of the Hamlet of Wallkill.

[edit] History

The section concurrent with 207 was relocated slightly when it was widened just east of the Thruway. The former right-of-way is still visible in the woods just north of the roadway.

Prior to 1963, Route 300 was strictly a west-east highway. From the Cronomer Valley junction with New York State Route 32, it ran concurrently with 32 east for three miles, to the junction with U.S. Route 9W at the City of Newburgh city limits. Route 300 terminated at this point, while 32 continued south in concurrency with 9W as it does to this day.^[3] Motorists proceeding straight at this intersection had a direct route to the City of Newburgh waterfront -- until the early 1960s the main shopping area for the region -- and the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry.

At the time of the construction of I-84 and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, this road was relocated to the north. It now intersects with Route 9W about 3/10 of a mile north of the old intersection. It is immediately north of the 9W-I-84 interchange (Exit 10 from the interstate) and direct access to the waterfront no longer exists from Route 32. Motorists wishing to access the waterfront must turn right off of Route 32, proceed under an overpass with Interstate 84, and make an immediate left at the former intersection of 32, 300 and 9W (just south of the I-84 interchange).

At the time the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge and Interstate 84 were constructed, the Route 32-300 concurrency was abolished, with Route 300 terminated at Cronomer Valley. It remained truncated in this fashion for nearly twenty years.

The fact that Route 300 was a west-east highway prior to 1982 may well explain why the mileage numbers on the reference markers appear north to south rather than in the reverse manner, as is usual.

In 1982, when the State assumed jurisdiction of the County Road 28, (which ran south of Cronomer Valley to Route 52), County Road 10, (which continued south of Route 52 to Route 17K), and County Road 38, (which extended from 17K to Route 207), instead of assigning a new Route number to this newest State highway, the state assigned to Route 300 a 90 degree turn to the south from its former terminus and continue down this new trajectory. The state also assumed control of Temple Hill Road in New Windsor from Route 207 to the Vails Gate five corners, and assigned the number 300 to that extension also, necessitating the 207-300 concurrency, and effectively more than doubling the length of Route 300 (from 7 miles in length to 14). This action also changed Route 300 from a west-east route to a north-south route. The road which comprise this route were known locally as Plattekill Turnpike, Union Avenue Extension, Union Avenue and Temple Hill Road. These names still enjoy wide local usage even though both the U.S. Postal Service and the local governments no longer recognize them as valid road names. By extending Route 300 from its former terminus to Vails Gate, New York State avoided the necessity of devising a new number for this new state road.^[4][5]

Since the adoption of the 911 emergency system in 1997, the entire length of road is now referred to officially as Route 300, with the old names of Plattekill Turnpike, Union Avenue Extension, Union Avenue and Temple Hill Road being suppressed by the local governments and by the U.S. Postal Service. The name Route 300 has even replaced the old name North Plank Road west of Cronomer Valley, even though the name is retained by the Postal Service east of that intersection. Interestingly, the large signs on Interstate 84 still refer to Route 300 as Union Avenue, however, even though local and official use of this name has been suppressed for the past decade by local governments and by the U.S. Postal Service.^[6]

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	Roads intersected	Notes
Orange	Vails Gate	0.00	NY 32 NY 94
	Town of New Windsor	2.36	NY 207 east	Southern terminus of overlap
		2.75	NY 207 west	Northern terminus of overlap
	Town of Newburgh	4.14	NY 17K
		4.53	I-87 / Thruway	Exit 17 (I-87/Thruway)
		4.86	I-84	Exit 7 (I-84)
	Gardnertown	5.70	NY 52
	Cronomer Valley	7.64	NY 32
Ulster	Wallkill	14.67	NY 208

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• NY 300 @ State Ends.com