История дороги NY 300: изменения и развитие трассы в штате Нью-Йорк

State highway in New York, US
The intersection of Plank Road (NY 32) and Albany Post Road (US 9W) was reconfigured slightly as part of the construction of Interstate 84 and the Newburgh Beacon Bridge. In order to avoid crossing under the freeway at exit 39, the section of Plank Road carrying NY 32 and NY 300 was relocated to the north of I 84. As a result, it now intersects with US 9W about 0.3 mile (0 km) north of the old intersection. When the bridge and I 84 were completed through Newburgh in 1963, the concurrency between NY 32 and NY 300 was abolished and NY 300 was truncated back to its original terminus at Cronomer Valley.

Prior to 1980, most of what is now NY 300 south of Cronomer Valley—namely Plattekill Turnpike, Union Avenue and Temple Hill Road—was maintained by Orange County as parts of several county routes. Plattekill Turnpike and Union Avenue were designated as CR 28 from Cronomer Valley to NY 52, CR 10 from there to I 84, and CR 38 from NY 17K to NY 207 east of Stewart International Airport. Temple Hill Road, meanwhile, was designated as CR 59. The section of Union Avenue between I 84 and NY 17K was state maintained as an unsigned reference route. On April 1, 1980, the state of New York assumed ownership and maintenance of CR 10, CR 28, CR 38, and CR 59 as part of a highway maintenance swap between the state and Orange County. The new north–south state highway became part of an extended NY 300, which made a 90 degree turn at Cronomer Valley and proceeded south to Vails Gate, briefly overlapping NY 207 in the vicinity of Lake Washington. This change roughly doubled the length of NY 300 (from ) Since the adoption of the 911 emergency system in 1997, the entire length of the 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. The large signs on Interstate 84 still refer to NY 300 as Union Avenue, however, even though local and official use of this name has been suppressed for the past decade.

When the New York State Thruway opened near Newburgh in 1955, exit 17 was a standard trumpet interchange that connected to Union Avenue and NY 17K. Interstate 84 was opened north and east of the junction in 1963 and west of the junction in 1969. No direct connection was built between I 84 and the Thruway, forcing traffic to utilize a short stretch of Union Avenue. At the time the Thruway was built there was little traffic on what later became NY 300 (at that time, a county road); the completion of I 84 and the subsequent development of the NY 300 corridor has increased traffic volumes in the area significantly. In this setup, traffic left the freeway and encountered stop signs and traffic signals while traveling from one road to the other. The inadequate cloverleaf design of the junction between I 84 and Union Avenue led 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 I 84 off slips had stop signs at the NY 300 termini; and there was no cloverleaf weaving area northbound through the junction. Southbound, traffic had to 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 I 84 and the Thruway; however, federal funding did not become available until the very end of the 20th century. The New York State Thruway Authority had a project in the works to link exit 17 directly with I 84, bypassing NY 300; and reconstruct the interchange between NY 300 and I 84 (exit 36). Plans online showed 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. As of May 2006, total work on the project consisted of a rebuilding of the eastbound old exit 7 off slip, removal of the southbound NY 300 to eastbound I 84 loop slip, installation of a traffic light, and the rerouting of the southbound NY 300 to eastbound I 84 movement via the same slip ramp that services the northbound NY 300 to eastbound I 84 movement. The ramp for northbound exit 17 on the Thruway has been widened to two lanes and new signage has gone up on the northbound Thruway and westbound I 84. The direct connection between I 84 and the Thruway was finally completed in December 2009, after being under construction for five years.

NY 300 has a large share of local attractions. The Newburgh Town Clerk is located along NY 300 just south of Mt. Carmel Church of Christ. Lake Washington resides just to the East of NY 300, and the route curves around it for a scenic view. Heading northbound on NY 300 is where Chadwick Lake is located along with Chadwick Lake Park. Other historic landmarks such as the New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site are located on NY 300. The Newburgh Mall is also located on NY 300.