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 New York State Route 79 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Map of central New York with NY 79 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byNYSDOT and the city ofIthaca | ||||
| Length | 93.18 mi[1] (149.96 km) | |||
| Existed | 1930[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  NY 414 inHector | |||
| Major intersections |
| |||
| East end |  PA 92 at thePennsylvania state line inWindsor town | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | New York | |||
| Counties | Schuyler,Tompkins,Tioga,Broome,Chenango | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
New York State Route 79 (NY 79) is a 93.18-mile-long (149.96 km) east–weststate highway in theSouthern Tier ofNew York, in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at the intersection withNY 414 near the southern end ofSeneca Lake just northeast ofWatkins Glen. Its eastern terminus is at thePennsylvania state line inthe town of Windsor inBroome County, where it connects toPennsylvania Route 92 (PA 92). NY 79 passes through three regions; it starts in theFinger Lakes region, runs throughCentral New York and ends on the western fringes of theCatskills. The route is signed east–west, but fromWhitney Point to the state line it runs in a north–south orientation and is signed north–south a few miles south of Center Village, a hamlet that is a few miles south of Harpursville.
Portions of NY 79 parallel waterways. BetweenWhitney Point andChenango Forks, it runs along the eastern bank of theTioughnioga River. From the town ofColesville to the Pennsylvania border, NY 79 runs along the western bank of theSusquehanna River. NY 79 also begins adjacent to Seneca Lake and passes nearCayuga Lake.
NY 79 serves thecity of Ithaca and connects to threeInterstate Highways:Interstate 81 (I-81) near Whitney Point;I-88 in Harpursville; andI-86 in thevillage of Windsor. The route also passes through the villages ofLisle andBurdett.
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NY 79 begins at an intersection withNY 414 just north of theWatkins Glen village limits in theSchuyler County town ofHector. The route heads north, climbing the side of the large bluff along the eastern edge ofSeneca Lake. At the top of the hill, NY 79 enters the village ofBurdett as Main Street. As it passes through the village, NY 79 turns eastward as Lake Avenue. East of Burdett, the route passes through thehamlet of Bennettsburg prior to intersectingNY 227. While NY 227 heads north to serve Reynoldsville, NY 79 continues east to Mecklenburg, the site of its junction withNY 228.
East of Mecklenburg, NY 79 passes intoTompkins County and the town ofEnfield. As Mecklenburg Road, it heads eastward through rolling farmland and hills toward thecity of Ithaca. It intersectsNY 327 at Enfield Corners in this stretch. As NY 79 approaches downtown Ithaca, it becomes Hector Street and curves to the northeast, then to the southeast as it descends toCayuga Lake. At the base of the hill, the route crosses the Cayuga Inlet and enters downtown, where it splits into aone-way couplet along State Street (eastbound) and Seneca Street (westbound). NY 79 eastbound shifts one block south at Fulton Street (NY 13,NY 34, andNY 96 southbound) to use Green Street. The one-way couplet ends one block east of Aurora Street at the "Tuning Fork" as Green and Seneca streets merge into East State Street, recently double-named Martin Luther King Jr. Street. NY 79 follows State Street southeastward through eastern Ithaca into thetown of Ithaca. The portions of NY 79 between the Ithaca west city line and NY 13A, between NY 89/96 and Meadow Street (NY 13/34/96 northbound) and between Green Street and the Ithaca east city line are maintained by the city.
The portion of NY 79 east of the city limits is markedly more rural. It heads southeastward as Slaterville Road through the towns of Ithaca,Dryden, andCaroline, serving several small communities along the route. NY 79 crosses intoTioga County upon passing over the west branch of Owego Creek.
NY 79's stay in Tioga County is wholly confined to the town ofRichford. The routing of NY 79 in Richford is hilly and heavily rural, with the one exception being at NY 79's junction withNY 38 in the hamlet of Richford. The route heads intoBroome County, where it meetsU.S. Route 11 (US 11) in thetown of Lisle just east of theLisle village limits. NY 79 joins US 11 southward along theTioughnioga River to a partial interchange withI-81 at exit 8. The overlap continues toWhitney Point, a village situated at the confluence of the Tioughnioga andOtselic Rivers. In the village, NY 79 leaves US 11 in favor of a short overlap withNY 26 across the Tioughnioga River. On the opposite bank, NY 26 and NY 79 split at a junction that also featuresNY 206.
South of Whitney Point, NY 79 continues southeast along the Tioughnioga River to the vicinity ofChenango Forks, where it intersectsNY 12. It briefly joins NY 12 along the banks of theChenango River, then crosses the river and enters the town ofFenton. About 3 miles (5 km), NY 79 veers intoChenango County for just under 1 mile (1.6 km) before reentering Broome County. The route heads onward through the rural towns of Fenton andColesville, where it meetsNY 7. NY 79 runs concurrent with NY 7 toHarpursville. Here, NY 79 turns southeast and connects toI-88. Past I-88, the route follows the western bank of theSusquehanna River southward throughOuaquaga, once a largeIroquois village which was destroyed by theContinental Army in 1778, to thevillage of Windsor. Inside the village, NY 79 meetsNY 17 at an interchange that is also the temporary eastern terminus ofI-86's eastern segment. NY 79 continues along the Susquehanna River to theNew York–Pennsylvania border, where the road becomesPA 92 upon crossing the state line.
From Lisle to its western end, NY 79 almost exactly follows the Catskill Turnpike, originally maintained by theSusquehanna and Bath Turnpike Company, which also maintained the Catskill Turnpike east to Bainbridge alongNY 206, and east along local roads andNY 54 to Bath. The only notable deviations are local, for easier grades, including along the "hogback" eskers near Center Lisle, and the westbound climb out of Ithaca as a looping Hector Street in place of the original straight climb from halfway up that street (still visible as a right-of-way).[3][failed verification]
NY 79 was assigned as part of the1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.[2] It initially began atNY 15 (modernNY 96) inTrumansburg and ended at thePennsylvania state line south of thevillage of Windsor. In between, NY 79 passed through Mecklenburg,Ithaca, andHarpursville. Also assigned as part of the renumbering wasNY 227, a highway connecting NY 79 in Perry City toNY 44 (nowNY 414) inWatkins Glen.[4]
The Perry City–Trumansburg portion of NY 79 became an extension ofNY 227 in the early 1940s. NY 79 was then truncated southward to its junction with NY 227 in Perry City.[5][6] In the early 1960s, NY 79 was rerouted to follow a previously unnumbered highway west of Mecklenburg to NY 227. From there, NY 79 continued to Watkins Glen over the routing of NY 227. As a result, NY 227 was truncated to its current southern terminus south of Reynoldsville. The former routing of NY 79 from Mecklenburg to Perry City became part of an extendedNY 228.[7][8]
On April 4, 2022, work began to replace the bridge that carries NY 79 over the Chenengo River. The new bridge will be built about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) upstream of the current bridge. The $12.6 million project is expected to be completed by Fall 2023.[9]
| County | Location[1] | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schuyler | Hector | 0.00 | 0.00 | NY 414 –Ovid,Watkins Glen | Western terminus | |||
| 6.22 | 10.01 |   NY 227 north –Trumansburg | Southern terminus of NY 227 | |||||
| 10.15 | 16.33 |  NY 228 north | Western end of concurrency with NY 228;hamlet ofMecklenburg | |||||
| 10.25 | 16.50 |  NY 228 south | Eastern end of concurrency with NY 228; hamlet of Mecklenburg | |||||
| Tompkins | Enfield | 14.41 | 23.19 |  NY 327 south | Northern terminus of NY 327; hamlet of Millers Corners | |||
| Ithaca | 21.07 | 33.91 |  NY 13A south (Floral Avenue) | Northern terminus of NY 13A | ||||
| 21.33 | 34.33 |    NY 13 south /NY 34 south /NY 96 south (Fulton Street) –Ithaca College | NY 79 east follows Fulton Street south for one block to access Green Street, western end of NY 13, NY 34, and NY 96 concurrency | |||||
| 21.44 | 34.50 | NY 13 north /NY 34 north /NY 96 north (Meadow Street) | ||||||
| 22.69 | 36.52 |   NY 366 east (Mitchell Street) | Western terminus of NY 366 | |||||
| Tioga | Richford | 39.67 | 63.84 |  NY 38 –Owego,Cortland | ||||
| Broome | Lisle | 50.60 | 81.43 |  US 11 north –Killawog | Western end of concurrency with US 11 | |||
| Triangle | 51.80 | 83.36 |   I-81 north –Cortland,Syracuse | Exit 30 on I-81 | ||||
| Whitney Point | 52.81 | 84.99 |    US 11 south /NY 26 south toI-81 south –Binghamton | Eastern end of concurrency with US 11; western end of concurrency with NY 26; Exit 29 on I-81 | ||||
| 52.94 | 85.20 |  NY 26 north /NY 206 –Greene,Cincinnatus | Eastern end of concurrency with NY 26; western terminus of NY 206 | |||||
| Barker | 61.93 | 99.67 |  NY 12 south –Binghamton | Western end of concurrency with NY 12; hamlet ofChenango Forks | ||||
| 62.20 | 100.10 | NY 12 north –Greene | Eastern end of concurrency with NY 12 | |||||
| Fenton | 64.80 | 104.29 |  NY 369 south | Hamlet ofNorth Fenton; northern terminus of NY 369 | ||||
| Chenango | No major junctions | |||||||
| Broome | Colesville | 74.24 | 119.48 |   NY 7 west –Binghamton | Western end of concurrency with NY 7 | |||
| 75.48 | 121.47 | NY 7 east –Nineveh | Eastern end of concurrency with NY 7 | |||||
| 75.57 | 121.62 |  I-88 –Binghamton,Albany | Exit 6 on I-88; hamlet ofHarpursville | |||||
| Village of Windsor | 87.06 | 140.11 |    I-86 west /NY 17 (Quickway) –Binghamton,New York City | Current eastern terminus of I-86; exit 79 on I-86/NY 17 | ||||
| Town of Windsor | 93.18 | 149.96 | PA 92 south | Continuation intoPennsylvania | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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