New York State Route 99

File:Former NY 99 in Franklin.jpg

NY 99 began at an intersection with NY 30 west of the hamlet of Duane Center in the town of Duane. The route headed eastward as the Port Kent–Hopkinton Turnpike, passing through the small community of Duane Center before entering an isolated, wooded area of Franklin County and Adirondack Park.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o44074f3 |title=Lake Titus Quadrangle – New York – Franklin Co. |publisher=United States Geological Survey |series=7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) |year=1980 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=April 1, 2010}}{{google maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/44.6642844,-74.2811646/44.5226955,-74.0141081/@44.5936183,-74.2162349,12z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-74.1812187!2d44.6389116!3s0x4ccba2c88601b837:0x157f29b708c0c200!1m0!3e0 |title=Overview map of former NY 99 |access-date=November 20, 2015}} At the Franklin town line, NY 99 curved southeastward, roughly paralleling Hatch Brook as it climbed up the northeastern portion of Baldface Mountain. Past the mountain's summit, the route continued onward, winding its way southward along Hatch Brook to a small lake known as Duck Pond.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o44074f2 |title=Owls Head Quadrangle – New York – Franklin Co. |publisher=United States Geological Survey |series=7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) |year=1968 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=April 1, 2010}}{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o44074e2 |title=Debar Mountain Quadrangle – New York – Franklin Co. |publisher=United States Geological Survey |series=7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) |year=1980 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=April 1, 2010}}

Past Duck Pond, the route turned to the southeast, passing by a series of small ponds and crossing under an old railroad grade as it ran along the base of a series of peaks known as the Loon Lake Mountains. NY 99 continued to follow the range to the northwestern edge of Loon Lake, where it veered to the northeast and ran along the northern and eastern shores of the lake to the hamlet of Loon Lake at its southeastern tip. NY 99 passed generally northwest–southeast through the small lakeside community before reentering another sparsely developed area of the town of Franklin. The highway progressed southeastward, crossing over the northern branch of the Saranac River and passing through the largely undeveloped community of Merrillsville before ending at an intersection with NY 3.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/usgspreview/index.cfm?code=o44074e1 |title=Loon Lake Quadrangle – New York – Franklin Co. |publisher=United States Geological Survey |series=7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) |year=1980 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=April 1, 2010}}

{{See also|Port Kent and Hopkinton Turnpike}}

File:Franklin CR 26 reassurance marker.jpg on CR 26 (former NY 99) eastbound in Duane]]

On April 18, 1829, the New York State Legislature passed an act that allowed construction to begin on the Port Kent and Hopkinton Turnpike, a toll road that was to begin in the town of Hopkinton and end at the hamlet of Port Kent on the western shore of Lake Champlain.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ex6xAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22port%20kent%22%20hopkinton%20road&pg=PA267 |title=Laws of the State of New York, passed at the Fifty-first session, second meeting, 1828, and Fifty-second session, 1829 |author=New York State Legislature |author-link=New York State Legislature |publisher=E. Croswell |year=1829 |pages=265–268 |access-date=March 31, 2010}} Construction began later that year and was completed in 1832.{{cite web |url=http://www.townoffranklin.com/history.html |title=History of the town of Franklin |first=Teresa R |last=Eschelman |access-date=July 30, 2009}} The {{convert|75|mi|0|adj=on}} highway opened in 1833.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3sz58LQ0q2cC&dq=Port%20Kent%20Road&pg=PA568 |title=A History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York |last=Hough |first=Franklin Benjamin |publisher=Little and Co |location=Albany, NY |year=1853 |pages=327, 497, 568}} The turnpike operated for only five years before it was dissolved on March 30, 1838, at which time maintenance of the highway was transferred to the towns it ran within.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1B-xAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22port%20kent%22%20hopkinton%20road&pg=PA96 |title=Laws of the State of New York passed at the Sixty-first session of the Legislature |author=New York State Legislature |publisher=E. Crowell |year=1838 |pages=96–97}} The {{convert|19|mi|0|adj=on}} segment of the turnpike between then-NY 10 near the Duane hamlet of Duane Center and NY 3 near the Franklin hamlet of Merrillsville was designated as NY 99 as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1930–31 and 1931–32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930–31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the 1930 renumbering

Although NY 99 was signed as a state highway, maintenance on the route was performed by Franklin County, which designated the roadway as CR 26.{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=c44 |title=Lake Titus Digital Raster Quadrangle |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |year=1969 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=April 1, 2010}}{{cite map |url=http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=d46 |title=Loon Lake Digital Raster Quadrangle |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |year=1969 |scale=1:24,000 |access-date=April 1, 2010}} All of NY 99 was initially a gravel road; however, most of the road was paved in the early 1970s through the use of state funds procured by New York State Senator Ronald Stafford of Plattsburgh.{{cite news |url=http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/507813.html?nav=5008 |title=Loon Laker spreads petition to fix Route 26 |last=Brown |first=Nathan |date=July 29, 2009 |newspaper=Adirondack Daily Enterprise |access-date=February 8, 2011 |location=Saranac Lake, NY}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/nyregion/26stafford.html |title=Ronald Stafford, 69, Republican State Senator for Four Decades, Is Dead |date=June 25, 2005 |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |access-date=February 8, 2011}} The western and eastern extents of the road were paved soon afterward; however, the road was left unpaved in the vicinity of Loon Lake—a lake near the midpoint of the route—even though the necessary gravel base was applied to the entire highway. The unpaved section deteriorated as a result,{{cite map |title=I Love New York Tourism Map |publisher=State of New York |cartography=Rand McNally and Company |year=1981}} and the NY 99 designation was removed from the roadway on September 26, 1994.{{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 |access-date=January 9, 2017}}

CR 26 has continued to deteriorate in the years since, with one {{convert|9|mi|0|adj=on}}, limited maintenance segment seeing the most wear. This section, situated midway between NY 30 and NY 3, has become both littered with potholes and extremely narrow due to the erosion of the highway's shoulders. In mid-2009, residents of Loon Lake petitioned the county to repair all of CR 26 and to continuously maintain the highway, citing the road's regional importance as a through route for commuters traveling to and from the village of Malone.

{{NYinttop|length_ref={{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-repository2/INV_2010-03-02_franklin.csv |title=Franklin County Inventory Listing |date=March 2, 2010 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |format=CSV |access-date=April 1, 2010}}|county=Franklin|former=yes}}

{{NYint

|location=Duane

|mile=0.00

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|30|CR|14|county2=Franklin}}

|notes=Western terminus

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{{NYint

|location=Franklin

|ctdab=Franklin

|mile=19.14

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|3|city1=Plattsburgh|city2=Saranac Lake|road|Alder Brook Park Road}}

|notes=Eastern terminus

}}

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{{Portal|U.S. roads}}

• List of county routes in Franklin County, New York

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Category:Transportation in Franklin County, New York