New York State Route 961F

File:NY_961F_in_Arkport.jpg

NY 961F begins just east of the village of Canaseraga at an intersection with NY 70 in the town of Burns. The route heads southward, crossing the Norfolk Southern Railway-owned Southern Tier Line by way of an overpass prior to curving southeastward at the base of Tildon Hill,{{google maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.4619969,-77.7495472/42.3945584,-77.6965142/@42.4302449,-77.7580064,13z/data=!3m1!4b1 |title=overview map of NY 961F |accessdate=November 3, 2015}}{{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 |date=January 2017 |format=PDF |pages=1, 64 |accessdate=January 10, 2017}} a mountain peaking at {{convert|1800|ft|m}} above sea level.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o42077d7 |title=Canaseraga Quadrangle – New York |publisher=United States Geological Survey |series=7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) |year=1964 |scale=1:24,000 |accessdate=February 18, 2011}} Over the next {{convert|2|mi|1}}, the highway heads slightly southeastward, running along the western edge of an undeveloped valley formed by Tildon Hill to the west and another plateau {{convert|1.5|mi|1}} to the east. This section of the route loosely parallels the Southern Tier Line, which runs through the marshy center of the gully.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o42077d6 |title=Arkport Quadrangle – New York |publisher=United States Geological Survey |series=7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) |year=1978 |scale=1:24,000 |accessdate=February 18, 2011}} As NY 961F approaches the Allegany–Steuben County line, it bypasses the hamlet of Burns, a railside community situated {{convert|0.5|mi|1}} to the east on Burns Road (County Route 14).

The terrain surrounding the highway remains the same in the Steuben County town of Dansville, where the route takes on a slightly more easterly alignment as the valley narrows in width. It eventually comes within view of the rail line, at which point the road turns back to the southeast and follows the Southern Tier Line along the western edge of a marsh known as The Muck. During this stretch, NY 961F encounters its first pocket of development, consisting of a small handful of isolated farms and homes. The buildings give way to open fields in the town of Hornellsville, where the route encounters the Canisteo River and enters the village of Arkport about {{convert|0.5|mi|1}} into the town. NY 961F turns east at the river, becoming West Avenue as it crosses the Southern Tier Line at-grade and runs past closely spaced homes on both sides of the road. The route soon reaches the village center, where it ends at a junction with NY 36.

What is now NY 961F was state-maintained as early as 1920, by which time the highway had been designated as a spur of Route 15, an unsigned legislative route extending from Hornell to Scottsville.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Sj4CAAAAYAAJ |author=New York State Department of Highways |title=Report of the State Commissioner of Highways |year=1920 |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |location=Albany, NY |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Sj4CAAAAYAAJ/page/n522 524] |accessdate=February 18, 2011}} The spur route was eliminated on March 1, 1921.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pE4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 |author=New York State Legislature |title=Laws of the State of New York passed at the One Hundred and Forty-Fourth Session of the Legislature |chapter=Tables of Laws and Codes Amended or Repealed |year=1921 |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |location=Albany, NY |pages=42, 56 |accessdate=February 18, 2011}} In the mid-1920s, the former spur became part of NY 38, an east–west highway extending from Angelica to Penn Yan via Canaseraga and Arkport.{{cite news |title=New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 21, 1924 |page=XX9}}{{cite map |title=Official Map Showing State Highways and other important roads |year=1926 |publisher=State of New York Department of Public Works |cartography=Rand McNally and Company}} In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY 38 was reassigned elsewhere in the state while its former routing became part of several new routes. One of these was NY 70, which began at Whitney Crossings (now Garwoods) and passed through Canaseraga and Arkport on its way to Kanona.{{cite news |last=Dickinson |first=Leon A. |title=New Signs for State Highways |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 12, 1930 |page=136}} NY 70 was realigned in the mid-1970s to follow what had been NY 70A east from Canaseraga.{{cite map |title=New York and New Jersey Tourgide Map |publisher=Gulf Oil Company |cartography=Rand McNally and Company |year=1974}}{{cite map |title=New York |publisher=Exxon |year=1977 |edition=1977–78 |cartography=General Drafting}} Its former routing between Canaseraga and Arkport became reference route NY 961F.

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{{NYint

|county=Allegany

|mile=0.00

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|70}}

|location=Burns

|notes=Western terminus

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{{NYint

|county=Steuben

|location=Arkport

|mile=5.90

|mile_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=360 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |accessdate=January 10, 2010}}

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|36|name1=New Main Street|I|86|NY|17|to2=yes}}

|notes=Eastern terminus

}}

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• {{Portal-inline|U.S. roads}}
• NY 962J, NY 990L, and NY 990V – Other reference routes signed as touring routes

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{{Commons category|New York State Route 961F}}

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{{NYSR external links|type=N|nyroutes=yes|termini=yes|route=961|suf=F}}

61F

Category:Transportation in Allegany County, New York

Category:Transportation in Steuben County, New York