 New York State Route 9N | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Map of northern New York with NY 9N highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route ofUS 9 | ||||
| Maintained byNYSDOT and the city ofSaratoga Springs | ||||
| Length | 143.49 mi[1] (230.92 km) | |||
| Existed | 1930[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |     US 9 /NY 29 /NY 50 /NY 9P inSaratoga Springs | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |  US 9 /NY 22 inKeeseville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | New York | |||
| Counties | Saratoga,Warren,Essex,Clinton | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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New York State Route 9N (NY 9N) is a north–southstate highway in northeasternNew York in the United States. It extends from an intersection withU.S. Route 9 (US 9),NY 29, andNY 50 in the city ofSaratoga Springs to a junction with US 9 andNY 22 in theClinton County hamlet ofKeeseville. At 143.49 miles (230.92 km) in total length, NY 9N is the longest letter-suffixed route in the state. It is concurrent with its parent route for 1 mile (1.6 km) in the village ofLake George and for three blocks in thehamlet ofElizabethtown.
Much of NY 9N runs alongside either a river or a lake. It follows theHudson River through northernSaratoga County and southernWarren County, the entirety ofLake George's western shoreline, the west edge ofLake Champlain betweenTiconderoga andWestport, and theAusable River fromKeene to Keeseville. The other portions of NY 9N pass through predominantly rural and mountainous regions of theAdirondack Mountains.
The NY 9N designation was originally created as part of the1930 renumbering of state highways in New York to replaceNew York State Route 9W, a route assigned to an alternate routing of US 9 from Elizabethtown to Keeseville. NY 9N was extended southward to Lake George in March 1936 and to Saratoga Springs in the early 1950s, supplanting several other routes (includingNew York State Route 9K) in the process.
NY 9N is the longest suffixed route in the state, extending for 143.5 miles (230.9 km) fromSaratoga Springs toKeeseville. The route stretches through four counties—Saratoga,Warren,Essex andClinton—and serves several villages andhamlets, includingLake George,Ticonderoga, andElizabethtown. It overlaps its parent route,US 9, in Lake George and Elizabethtown and meetsInterstate 87 (I-87) four times.[1]
NY 9N begins at the intersection of Church Street, Broadway (US 9,NY 29 westbound, andNY 50) and Lake Avenue (NY 29 eastbound) in the city ofSaratoga Springs. Situated on the northwestern corner of the junction is the city'spost office. The route heads west, following Church Street out of the city's center.[3] At Bensonhurst Avenue, ownership and maintenance of NY 9N shifts from the city of Saratoga Springs to theNew York State Department of Transportation.[4] As NY 9N exits the city limits and enters the town ofGreenfield, it turns to follow a more northerly routing. It meetsCounty Route 21 (CR 21) just north of the town line, where the Church Street name ends, andCR 36 (Wilton Road) 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the north in thehamlet of Greenfield Center.[3]
The route continues on into thetown of Corinth, where it crosses theBlue Line intoAdirondack Park. Not far to the north, NY 9N enters thevillage of Corinth, situated on the west bank of theHudson River. The highway follows Saratoga Avenue and Maple Streets into the village center, where it turns north and exits the village on Main Street. NY 9N follows the western edge of the river north for roughly 4 miles (6 km) through the towns of Corinth andHadley before crossing over it and passing from Saratoga County to Warren County.[3]
Across the county line inLake Luzerne, NY 9N begins to deviate from the Hudson River, gradually curving to the northeast as it passes through the hamlets ofLake 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, NY 9N enters thetown of Lake George, where it connects toI-87 (theAdirondack Northway) at exit 21 and meets US 9.[3] Here, it joins its parent route northward toward thevillage of Lake George. The conjoined routes intersect the northern end ofNY 9L just south of the village line before becoming Canada Street and entering the village limits upon crossing over West Brook. US 9 and NY 9N serve as the primary north–south thoroughfare through the village before splitting at the north end of the village. While US 9 continues to the north, NY 9N heads northeast along the western edge ofLake George.[3]
The portion of NY 9N between Lake George village andHague is relatively isolated, with mountains lining the western edge of the highway and the lakeshore located to the immediate east. Along this stretch, NY 9N 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 andBolton Landing, the latter of which is home toThe Sagamore, a resort situated on an island in Lake George.[3]
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 (3.2 km) to the north, at which point NY 9N 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 ofNY 8. NY 9N continues to serve as the lakeside roadway for another 3 miles (5 km) before curving away from the lake and enteringEssex County.[3]
Now in the town ofTiconderoga, NY 9N passes through a valley before curving to the east and entering thehamlet of Ticonderoga. For the most part, NY 9N 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, NY 9N meetsNY 22 andNY 74, the latter of which serves as a northerly bypass of Ticonderoga. NY 22 joins NY 9N here, following the route out of the hamlet.[3]
NY 9N and NY 22 head generally northward through an area of lowlands, which eventually give way toLake Champlain as the conjoined routes pass into the town ofCrown Point. Once again, NY 9N 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 NY 9N and NY 22 pass by Crown Point to the west,NY 185 directly serves the peninsula and theCrown Point State Historic Site, located at its tip.[3]
The routes continue northward along the lakeshore through the town ofMoriah and the village ofPort Henry to the town ofWestport, where NY 9N and NY 22 split in the hamlet of Westport. While NY 22 continues north towardsEssex, NY 9N heads west to follow a more inland routing through a series of narrow valleys. NY 9N intersects I-87 once again at exit 31 just before entering the town ofElizabethtown. The route continues west, passing over theBouquet River and entering thehamlet of Elizabethtown, where it rejoins US 9 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]
NY 9N continues to the west for 12 miles (19 km) through deep, narrow valleys toKeene, where it meetsNY 73 north of Keene Valley. Here, NY 9N turns north, joining NY 73 for 2 miles (3.2 km) to the hamlet of Keene, located on the east branch of theAusable River. NY 73 heads off to the west from this point towardLake Placid; however, NY 9N follows the river northward into the town ofJay, where it intersects the east end ofNY 86. The highway continues alongside the western bank of the river branch to the hamlet ofAu 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 ofBlack Brook. NY 9N 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 ofAu Sable. Here, NY 9N meets I-87 one final time at exit 34 just southwest of the village ofKeeseville. NY 9N continues on into Keeseville, where it meets NY 22 once again at an intersection across the river from the village center. NY 22 and NY 9N come together once more, overlapping for 0.25 miles (0.40 km) to an intersection with US 9 a short distance downstream from the center of Keeseville. NY 9N comes to an end here while NY 22 turns south onto US 9.[3]
In 1908, theNew York State Legislature created Route 22, an unsignedlegislative route that was initially split into two segments. The northern half of the route ran fromRiparius toRouses Point and mostly followed what is nowUS 9 between the two locations. FromElizabethtown toKeeseville, however, Route 22 followed a more westerly alignment viaKeene,Jay, andAu Sable Forks.[5][6] When the first set of posted routes inNew York were assigned in 1924, all of legislative Route 22 north of Riparius became part ofNY 6, which continued south towardGlens Falls on what is now US 9. At the same time, the section of modern NY 9N betweenSaratoga Springs andLake George was designated as part ofNY 10.[7][8] The portion betweenTiconderoga andWestport became part of a realignedNY 30 by the following year.[9]
By 1926, the piece of current NY 9N fromHague to Ticonderoga was designated as the easternmost leg ofNY 47, which continued west toChestertown on modernNY 8.[8] In 1927, most of NY 6 north ofRound Lake was replaced by US 9 whenU.S. Highways were first signed in New York.[10] The lone exception was between Elizabethtown and Keeseville, where US 9 followed a previously unnumbered highway to the east instead. The bypassed section of NY 6 between the two locations was redesignated as NY 9W at this time.[8][11] NY 9W was renumbered to NY 9N as part of the1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, eliminating the alphanumerical duplication between itself andUS 9W.[2]
NY 47, meanwhile, became part of the new NY 8 in the 1930 renumbering, allowing the NY 47 designation to be reassigned to a previously unnumbered roadway along the western shore ofLake George between NY 8 in Hague and US 9 inLake George village. At the same time, NY 10 was realigned south ofLong Lake and replaced with NY 9K from Saratoga Springs to Lake George while the roadway connecting Ticonderoga to Westport became part ofNY 22 after NY 30 was reassigned elsewhere in the state.[12] The segment of modern NY 9N from Westport to Elizabethtown, previously unnumbered, was designated NY 195.[2]
NY 9N was extended south to Lake George in March 1936, supplanting both NY 47 and NY 195 in an effort to aid tourists.[13] From Westport toHague, NY 9Noverlapped with NY 22 (from Westport to Ticonderoga) and NY 8 (fromCrown Point toHague).[14][15] The route was extended once more in November 1953 to its current southern terminus in Saratoga Springs, replacing NY 9K and creating a short overlap with US 9 through Lake George village in the process.[16] The overlap with NY 8 was eliminated in the mid-1960s when that route was truncated to end at its junction with NY 9N in Hague.[17][18]
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saratoga | Saratoga Springs | 0.00 | 0.00 |   US 9 /NY 29 /NY 50 (Broadway) toI-87 | Southern terminus |
| Hudson River | Bridge over Hudson River | ||||
| Warren | Town of Lake George | 29.49 | 47.46 | I-87 | Exit 21 on I-87 |
| 29.69 | 47.78 |  US 9 south –Glens Falls | Southern end of US 9 concurrency | ||
| 30.02 | 48.31 |  NY 9L south –Dunham Bay | Northern terminus of NY 9L | ||
| 30.12 | 48.47 | Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway (NY 917A north) –Prospect Mountain | |||
| Village of Lake George | 31.57 | 50.81 |  US 9 north –Warrensburg | Northern end of US 9 concurrency | |
| Town of Lake George | 31.94 | 51.40 | ToI-87 | Access viaNY 912Q | |
| Hague | 59.72 | 96.11 |  NY 8 south toI-87 –Brant Lake,Chestertown | Northern terminus of NY 8 | |
| Essex | Ticonderoga | 69.33 | 111.58 |  NY 22 south /NY 74 –Schroon Lake,Whitehall | Southern end of NY 22 concurrency; hamlet ofTiconderoga |
| Crown Point | 81.64 | 131.39 |     NY 185 east toVT 17 –Champlain Bridge | Western terminus of NY 185 | |
| Town of Westport | 94.81 | 152.58 | NY 22 north (Champlain Avenue) | Northern end of NY 22 concurrency; hamlet ofWestport | |
| 98.90 | 159.16 | I-87 | Exit 31 on I-87 | ||
| Town of Elizabethtown | 103.19 | 166.07 | US 9 north –Keeseville | Southern end of US 9 concurrency; hamlet ofElizabethtown | |
| 103.65 | 166.81 | US 9 south –Schroon Lake | Northern end of US 9 concurrency | ||
| Keene | 113.74 | 183.05 |  NY 73 east –Keene Valley | Southern end of NY 73 concurrency | |
| 115.59 | 186.02 |  NY 73 west –Lake Placid | Northern end of NY 73 concurrency; hamlet of Keene | ||
| Jay | 125.21 | 201.51 |  NY 86 west –Wilmington | Eastern terminus of NY 86 | |
| Ausable River (West Branch) | West Branch Ausable River Bridge | ||||
| Clinton | Au Sable | 142.06 | 228.62 |   I-87 toA-15 north | Exit 34 on I-87 |
| 143.22 | 230.49 | NY 22 north –Peru | Southern end of NY 22 concurrency; hamlet ofKeeseville | ||
| 143.49 | 230.92 | US 9 /NY 22 south –Ausable Chasm,Ferry to Vermont,Plattsburgh,Elizabethtown | Northern terminus; northern end of NY 22 concurrency | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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