New York State Route 344

File:NY 344 first reassurance shield.jpg

NY 344 begins at an intersection with NY 22 in the hamlet of Copake Falls. The road heads to the southeast, turning eastward into Taconic State Park. NY 344 intersects with a few local roads at the border of the park, where it runs along the south base of Sunset Rock, an {{convert|1800|ft|m}} high, dual-state mountain. The route continues eastward, along the base of Cedar Mountain before beginning to ascend the mountain. While climbing Cedar Mountain, NY 344 crosses into Massachusetts and becomes the unnumbered Falls Road, a local roadway providing access to Bash Bish Falls State Park.{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS232US232&q=from%3A%20RT-344%20%4042.125566%2C%20-73.525332%20to%3A%20Falls%20Rd%20%4042.111788%2C%20-73.473023&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl |title=overview map of NY 344 and Falls Road |access-date=May 1, 2008}}

NY 344 was assigned {{circa|lk=no|1932}} to a {{convert|1.52|mi|km|adj=mid|-long|2}} highway extending from Copake Falls in the west to the Massachusetts state line in the east.{{cite map |title=New York |publisher=Kendall Refining Company |year=1931 |cartography=H.M. Gousha Company}}{{cite map |title=Texaco Road Map – New York |publisher=Texas Oil Company |year=1932 |cartography=Rand McNally and Company}} At the time, NY 22 served Copake Falls directly instead of bypassing it. NY 22 was rerouted to bypass Copake Falls on a new roadway to the west of the hamlet between 1947 and 1953. NY 344 was then extended northward on NY 22's former alignment to meet the new bypass north of Copake Falls.{{cite map |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-albany-1947.jpg |title=Albany, United States Quadrangle |publisher=Army Map Service |year=1947 |scale=1 : 250,000 |series=Eastern United States 1 : 250,000 |access-date=May 2, 2008}}{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Copake Quadrangle – New York–Massachusetts |year=1953 |scale=1 : 24,000 |series=7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o42073a5 |access-date=May 2, 2008 |archive-date=December 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219031840/http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o42073a5 |url-status=dead }} The southern half of NY 22's old routing into the hamlet remained state-maintained as well and is now New York State Route 980F, an unsigned reference route, and is signed on NY 22 as a southern branch of NY 344.{{cite book |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2017%20tour-bk.pdf |title=Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State |author=New York State Department of Transportation |author-link=New York State Department of Transportation |date=January 2017 |format=PDF |access-date=January 9, 2017}}

In August and October 1955, NY 344 and the Taconic State Park south of the road was inundated with floods damaging the blacktop surface highway.{{cite news|title=Section of Taconic Park Closed, Seek Control of Floods|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252010%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201956%2520Grayscale%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201956%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200128.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2Fef1e7e8315b59adb1233578d2b0becf8#page=1|access-date=December 11, 2016|work=The Chatham Courier|date=March 1, 1956|page=1}} The reconstruction of NY 344 was the center point of debate came in late February 1956, where Paul Winslow, the executive secretary of the Taconic State Park Commission, who felt it was unimportant if the road was rebuilt. Local officials in the town of Copake opposed Winslow's view, noting that it only cost $35,000 (1956 USD) to reconstruct the road.{{cite news|title=Copake Officials Back Route 344 Repairs at Army Flood Hearing|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252010%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201956%2520Grayscale%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201956%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200114.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F8bc9cc49346f96b709a51252d1f1806f#page=1|access-date=December 11, 2016|work=The Chatham Courier|date=March 1, 1956|page=1}} In April 1956, the county contacted State Senator Ernest Hatfield that the road was barricaded in Copake Falls for the fact that there was no residences and the fact that the Massachusetts side was wiped out by the flooding.{{cite news|title=County To Seek $250,000 for Copake Spans|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252010%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201956%2520Grayscale%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201956%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200218.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F1219104a4d515b8a8134af966525eb55#page=1|access-date=December 11, 2016|work=The Chatham Courier|date=April 19, 1956|page=1}} In November 1956, a bid was let for $49,329 to reconstruct NY 344 including the construction of drainage facilities and shoulders along the road. The slated completion date was for July 31, 1957.{{cite news|title=$49,329 in Bish Bash Flood Repair Job Goes to Kingston Firm|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252019%2FAlbany%2520NY%2520Knickerbocker%2520News%2FAlbany%2520NY%2520Knickerbocker%2520News%25201956%2FAlbany%2520NY%2520Knickerbocker%2520News%25201956%2520a%2520-%25200144.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F2b11b58f7108630b5f648a1a54acfbe2#page=1|access-date=December 11, 2016|work=The Knickerbocker News|date=November 18, 1956|location=Albany, New York|page=B9}} However, progress on reconstruction of NY 344 was nearly complete by March 1957.{{cite news|title=Repairs Made to Route 344|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252010%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201957%2520Grayscale%2FChatham%2520NY%2520Courier%25201957%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200194.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F86550626b481aae76dd4d9769dc6ed3b#page=1|access-date=January 10, 2017|work=The Chatham Courier|date=March 21, 1957|page=8}}

{{jcttop|state=NY|county=Columbia|location=Copake|length_ref={{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Data%20Report%202008.pdf |title=2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State |date=June 16, 2009 |format=PDF |page=296 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |access-date=December 9, 2009}}}}

{{NYint

|mile=0.00

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|22}}

|notes=Western terminus; hamlet of Copake Falls

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{{NYint

|mile=0.40

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|22|dir1=north|to1=yes}}

|notes=Access via NY 980F; hamlet of Copake Falls

}}

{{NYint

|mile=1.90

|road=Falls Road

|notes=Continuation into Massachusetts

}}

{{jctbtm}}

• {{Portal-inline|U.S. roads}}
• {{Portal-inline|Hudson Valley}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|New York State Route 344}}

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{{NYSR external links|type=N|nyroutes=yes|termini=yes|route=344|alps=yes}}

{{good article}}

344

Category:Transportation in Columbia County, New York