I learned some interesting facts from our prior exercise, specifically that there are several extremely short U.S. Interstate highway segments that just barely clip the corners of various states. In the course of that journey I also uncovered a startling revelation. New York is stealing roads from its neighbors. I’d write it off as an aberration if it was a single instance. However it appears they’ve done it at least twice and it wouldn’t surprise me if additional examples exist.
A History of Theft
It’s not beyond the citizens of New York to wrangle land from adjacent jurisdictions. Precedence traces back to 1879 when New York finally completed the absorption of Fishers Island fully within its territory. Clearly it should have gone to Connecticut by nature of geography (map). Two miles from Groton, and somehow New York manages to snag it?
I’d thought this type of boorish behavior was a Nineteenth Century artifact. How could it possibly happen during modern times with borders more clearly established, defined and marked? But I was wrong.
Once again I tip my keyboard to Steve of Connecticut Museum Quest. He blew the whistle on a new-to-me border incursion. He’s still fighting mad about Fishers Island, not to mention the Southwick Jog that Massachusetts stole. On his behalf, I’m not going to let this provocation go lightly. Connecticut is already too small to hand over additional chunks of its territory.
“New York” 120A
I’d consulted him about a tiny sliver of Interstate 684 that passed through Connecticut territory, and of course he knew all about it. He added that I should take a look a little further south. Here’s the result.
Notice anything odd? The road just east of Westchester County Airport clearly runs through Connecticut but the label says New York 120A. I’d seen it on the map earlier but I figured it was a typical Google Maps typo. Sometimes the labeling is a little wrong. Sometimes the borders are off by a couple hundred feet. So I discounted it as an obvious error.
Imagine my surprise when I learned that Google actually got it right. The map is correct. This is a segment of New York state highway running through Connecticut territory.
Steve referred me to the ultimate online authority, Kurumi’s Connecticut Roads:
“King Street in Greenwich; forms a loop with NY 120. This is a funny one: Route 120A spends most of its time in Connecticut… but isn’t signposted in that state. Connecticut’s state highway log, a list of all numbered routes it maintains, does not include Route 120A, and I doubt it ever has.”
Wikipedia provides additional coverage:
“NY 120A proceeds into Connecticut, staying within the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, for about 3.6 miles (5.8 km). This portion of the road is still maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation, even though it is outside the state of New York.”
It that’s not odd enough, the road reputedly has different speed limits depending upon the direction driven. Steve has placed this anomaly on his visit list. He promises an on-the-ground report when he finally makes it down to this westernmost point in Connecticut, and when he does I’ll provide a link to the appropriate page on his website.
[UPDATE: He took me there in 2012].
“New York” Interstate 86
Connecticut is not alone. Pennsylvania has also experienced a border incursion from its pushy neighbor. Regular readers Greg and Kandice both referenced the Southern Tier Expressway in comments they posted to the original story. It barely clips Pennsylvania at South Waverly and the sign says Interstate 86, or New York 17, or both depending on the current status of efforts to convert the expressway to Interstate standards.
Here we find the same issue. New York state Highway 17 crosses into Pennsylvania. Notice the exit numbers in the little green circles along the roadway. Exit numbers align to states but these exit numbers remain in sequence with the New York numbering even where the road passes through Pennsylvania. Ordinarily I would consider that a matter of convenience and a means to avoid confusing travelers. Now I’m growing suspicious. The strange truth goes much deeper.
Reviewing the GribbleNation website and one of its Highway Features of the Week, [link no longer works] I found a smoking gun:
“…NYSDOT tried to keep the highway entirely in New York, with the right-of-way abutting the state line for several miles/km (it curves north just off the map to both the left and right). However, they were unable to keep the highway in New York at Waverly, this due to the presence of the Norfolk Southern (ex Conrail) ‘Southern Tier’ line (which hugs the state line in Waverly, NY) and the urbanized parts of the city across the tracks to the north. The going was easier in South Waverly, PA, and the highway was built through an old industrial/railroad section there… NYSDOT maintains all of NY 17 in this area. [emphasis added]”
Seriously Though
Naturally my post is fairly tongue-in-cheek. Nobody really believes that New York is employing these tactics as a slow-motion form of “squatters rights” to expand its state borders. Right? There are plausible explanations and I’m sure that both Connecticut and Pennsylvania don’t mind the taxpayers of another state footing the bill, which by the way, also benefit the citizens of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. I just found it odd that two instances came up wholly by coincidence while discussing an article of a totally different subject.
I wonder if there are similar situations elsewhere? The Spanish road to Llivia is one example and it seems to make sense. It exists exclusively to tie an exclave to its homeland, i.e., a travel corridor to a populace that would otherwise be “stranded” (well, maybe not so much anymore with the Schengen Agreement but you get the idea). I’m wondering though about instances where this happens more as a matter of geographic convenience like the New York situations.
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