New York State Route 63

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NY Route 63

Length:

82.20 mi^[1] (132.29 km)

South end:

NY 15/NY 21 in Wayland

Major
junctions:

US 20A/NY 39 in Geneseo

US 20 in Pavilion

North end:

NY 18 in Yates

Counties:

Steuben, Livingston, Wyoming, Genesee, Orleans

New York State Routes
< NY 62A		NY 64 >

New York State Route 63 is a state highway in the western part of New York, USA. The northern end is in the Town of Yates (Orleans County) by the shore of Lake Ontario. The south end is in Village of Wayland (Steuben County).

NYS Route 63 is a northwest to southeast route through Western New York. It has assumed considerable regional importance since traffic headed for Buffalo from points south uses it as the last and longest leg of a shortcut from Interstate 390 to some areas around Buffalo, bypassing tolls on the New York State Thruway in the process. The extra traffic has had a mixed effect on some of the communities in the strtech between Geneseo and Batavia.

1 Route description
2 Communities along the route
3 Major intersections
4 History
5 References

[edit] Route description

Route 63 can be divided into three sections: a busy middle section between Geneseo and Batavia, and the much less-traveled sections north and south of it.

[edit] Wayland to Geneseo

NY 63 begins at a four-way intersection with a partially-duplexed NY 15 and NY 21 in the northern Steuben County village of Wayland (village), New York. From here it heads west, paralleling Interstate 390 on the side of the valley the interstate travels through.

Presently it enters Livingston County and the village of Dansville, where it briefly shares a street with NY 36, which at this point parallels 390 on its other side for most of its route. NY 256 splits off for Conesus Lake in Dansville as well.

Continuing north into Groveland, the short remnant of NY 258 comes in from the west at the town line. At the north end the highway runs much closer to 390, and after NY 408 connects to 63 from the highway the road becomes busier as it is the primary route to Geneseo for northbound traffic on 390 itself, as there is no exit at the point where 390 crosses under the interstate.

[edit] Geneseo to Batavia

After making a brief triplex with US 20A and NY 39, 63 enters Geneseo from the south, passing the campus of SUNY Geneseo. At the edge of the village, the highway crosses the Genesee River, then begins to curve up and out of the valley until it runs east-west again through the Town of York.

Sign at Greigsville directing Buffalo-bound traffic onto NY 63 from NY 36.

The key junction in York is the hamlet of Greigsville, where 63 meets its palindrome, NY 36. This next section of highway has become a major shortcut for traffic heading to the Buffalo area, despite remaining a two-lane road through open rural country, since it is both physically shorter than going all the way to the New York State Thruway as well as toll-free, and especially for traffic headed to the communities east or south of Buffalo this route is actually preferable. Trucks are not an uncommon sight despite signage on 390 instructing them to use the Thruway for their entire trip. Most of this Buffalo-bound traffic has followed 36 up from Mt. Morris, and turns on to 63 here. Signage along this route reflects this use.

From Greigsville, 63 heads east through some open land with terrific views over the Genesee valley on clear does and into a brief corner of Wyoming County, where it turns to head due northwest, its direction for the next 30 miles. The next intersection with a state highway, the northern end of NY 246, comes just after the Genesee County line. A mile beyond, 63 drops down slightly to intersect with NY 19 at Pavilion.

After the traffic light at the center of the hamlet, 63 crosses Oatka Creek and climbs back up out of the Wyoming Valley. This section was widened to four lanes in the 1990s, one of the few concessions made by NYSDOT to its use as an intercity trunk road. Atop the hill, it narrows again and continues due northeast to its next junction, the underdeveloped crossing of US 20. Here at least some Buffalo-bound traffic will turn west.

Eventually acquiring the name Ellicott Street, 63 finally enters Batavia, where it intersects the two major east-west trunk routes in this corridor, NY 5 and NY 33, as well as north-south NY 98, which takes traffic to the Thruway.

[edit] Batavia to Yates Center

Past Batavia 63 itself crosses the Thruway, but without an exit. It continues northwestward as Lewiston Road to the village of Oakfield, where NY 262 departs to the east. Finally, just north of Oakfield, 63 turns due west on Judge Road and follows it several miles to NY 77, which it joins north of Basom.

At Alabama, 77 turns to the west and 63 continues northwards, across Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and into Orleans County, to reach Medina. This village begins at a junction with NY 31 and NY 31A. Route 31A continues eastward while 31 joins 63 through the village. Within it, NY 31E comes in from the west and then 31 leaves to continue east. 63 crosses the Erie Canal, and leaves town.

Several miles further on, at Ridgeway, 63 crosses NY 104. This penultimate east-west trunk road through the region is followed by a descent into the last village along the route, Lyndonville. A short distance past it, 63 reaches its northern terminus at NY 18.

[edit] Communities along the route

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)	Notes
Steuben	Wayland	0.0	NY 15 NY 21
Livingston	Dansville	6.3	NY 36	Southern terminus of duplex.
		6.4	NY 36	Northern terminus of duplex.
		6.5	NY 256	Southern terminus of NY 256.
	Groveland	14.4	NY 258	Eastern terminus of NY 258.
	Mount Morris	21.1	NY 408	Northern terminus of NY 408. Hamlet of Hampton Corners.
	Geneseo		I-390	NY 63 passes over I-390.
	Geneseo	24.1	US 20A/NY 39	Southern terminus of triplex.
	Geneseo	24.4	US 20A/NY 39	Northern terminus of triplex.
	York	30.3	NY 36	Hamlet of Greigsville.
Wyoming	No junctions
Genesee	Pavilion	36.9	NY 246	Northern terminus of NY 246.
		37.9	NY 19
		40.9	US 20	Hamlet of Texaco Town.
	Batavia	49.8	NY 5/NY 33	Eastern terminus of triplex.
		50.1	NY 33 NY 98	Western terminus of NY 5/33/63 triplex. NY 5/NY 63 duplex continues.
		50.9	NY 5	Western terminus of duplex.
	Batavia		I-90 Thruway	NY 63 passes over I-90/Thruway.
	Oakfield	56.2	NY 262	Western terminus of NY 262.
	Alabama	62.6	NY 77	Southern terminus of duplex.
	Alabama	64.1	NY 77	Northern terminus of duplex.
Orleans	Medina	71.8	NY 31 NY 31A	Southern terminus of NY 31/NY 63 duplex. Western terminus of NY 31A.
		72.8	NY 31 NY 31E	Northern terminus of NY 31/NY 63 duplex. Eastern terminus of NY 31E/NY 63 duplex. Eastern terminus of NY 31E.
		73.0	NY 31E	Western terminus of duplex.
	Ridgeway	76.4	NY 104	Western terminus of duplex.
	Ridgeway	76.4	NY 104	Eastern terminus of duplex.
	Yates	82.2	NY 18	Hamlet of Yates Center.

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency termini	Decommissioned	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] History

As 63 became more established as a major route to Buffalo, some residents of that city proposed improving access to the region by replacing the entire section between I-390 and the Thruway with an expressway, or at least building a Pennsylvania-style express bypass around Pavilion. They suggested it would be a much cheaper way of improving access from the region to the mid-Atlantic than the Buffalo business community's preferred alternative, completion of the US 219 freeway in New York, since traffic from the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas follows US 15 to New York and gets on I-390 that way.

However, gas station and convenience store owners along the 63-36-408 bypass objected, and it seems today that the 219 plan is more popular, as it is slated to become part of Interstate 99 as that project is completed.