New York State Route 163

NYS Route 163
Map of Montgomery County in eastern New York with NY 163 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length:	11.97 mi[1] (19.26 km)
Existed:	1930[2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	NY 5S / NY 80 in Fort Plain
East end:	NY 10 in Canajoharie
Location
Counties:	Montgomery
Highway system
Numbered highways in New York Interstate U.S. N.Y. (former) Reference County ← NY 162 NY 164 →

New York State Route 163 (NY 163) is an east–west state highway in Montgomery County, New York, in the United States. It runs in the shape of a C from an intersection with NY 5S and NY 80 in the village of Fort Plain to a junction with NY 10 in the town of Canajoharie. With the exception of its eastern terminus, NY 163 is not signed with directions. Reference markers indicate its terminus in Fort Plain to be its western, although the route heads nearly due southward until Sprout Brook. Approaching that hamlet, it is named Cherry Valley Road, and when NY 163 turns left to head eastward, County Route 82 (CR 82) continues that road name directly to Cherry Valley. In Fort Plain, NY 163 follows Kellogg and Douglas streets. NY 163 is a two-lane highway for its entire length. The route was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and originally continued north to the village of Canajoharie via NY 10.

Route description

NY 163 begins at an intersection with NY 5S and NY 80 (Main Street) in the village of Fort Plain. The route heads southwest along Main Street through Fort Plain, overlapping with NY 80 as it passes multiple commercial businesses near the village center. At Kellogg Street, NY 80 and NY 163 separate, with the former continuing along Main Street and the latter turning southward onto Kellogg Street. After crossing over Otsquago Creek, NY 163 intersects with Clinton Avenue, where the route turns west along the creek. At the junction with Garfield Street, the name changes to Douglass Street, which runs alongside the Otsquago through a residential section of Fort Plain. Just after the junction with Honey Hill Road, the route crosses into the town of Minden, changing names to Cherry Valley Road.^[3]

NY 163 eastbound ahead of the route's east end at NY 10 in Canajoharie

Through Minden, NY 163 winds southwest as a two-lane rural roadway, crossing a junction with Fisk Hill Road (unsigned CR 64). Continuing southwest, NY 163 crosses into the residential hamlet of Freysbush, leaving the small community for a junction with Freysbush Road (CR 79). At this junction, NY 163 turns south, passing through Minden past a junction with Marshville Road (CR 86), where it turns southwest. The two-lane rural roadway remains the same for a couple miles, crossing into the hamlet of Hessville and a junction with Indian Trail Road (CR 77). Just south of that junction, NY 163 turns southeast into the town of Canajoharie.^[3]

NY 163 crosses through the town of Canajoharie, entering the hamlet of Sprout Brook. In Sprout Brook, NY 163 reaches a junction with CR 82, where the route drops the Cherry Valley Road moniker. Now running eastward through Sprout Brook, NY 163 begins paralleling Canajoharie Creek, crossing into the hamlet of Buel. Just east of Buel, the route junctions with West Ames Road (CR 88), at which point NY 163 turns northeastward. The highway soon passes a local golf club before ending at an intersection with NY 10 several miles south of the village of Canajoharie.^[3]

History

The highways that comprise the C-shaped NY 163 were acquired by the state of New York in the early 20th century. On January 18, 1907, the state let a contract to improve the section east of the hamlet of Sprout Brook to state highway standards. It was added to the state highway system in July 1910 as unsigned State Highway 345 (SH 345). The section between Sprout Brook and Main Street in Fort Plain was rebuilt under a project contracted out on July 15, 1915, and accepted into the state highway system on November 15, 1918, as SH 410.^[4] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, hundreds of state-maintained highways were assigned a posted route number for the first time.^[5] SH 345 and SH 410 were designated as part of NY 163,^[2] which overlapped with NY 80 and NY 10 to connect to NY 5S in Fort Plain and Canajoharie, respectively.^[6] The overlap with NY 10 was eliminated at some point between 1977 and 1993.^[7][8]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Montgomery County.

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Fort Plain	0.00	0.00	NY 5S / NY 80 north	Eastern terminus of NY 80 / NY 163 overlap
	0.15	0.24	NY 80 south (Main Street)	Western terminus of NY 80 / NY 163 overlap
Town of Canajoharie	11.97	19.26	NY 10
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• New York Roads portal

References

1. "2008 Traffic Volume Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. pp. 175–176. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
2. Road Map of New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. Standard Oil Company of New York. 1930.
3. Microsoft; Nokia (November 17, 2012). "overview map of NY 163" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
4. New York State Department of Highways (1920). Report of the State Commissioner of Highways. Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company. pp. 222, 224. Retrieved December 24, 2012.
5. Dickinson, Leon A. (January 12, 1930). "New Signs for State Highways". The New York Times. p. 136.
6. State of New York Department of Transportation (January 1, 1970). Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State (PDF). Retrieved December 24, 2012.
7. Canajoharie Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. New York State Department of Transportation. 1977. Retrieved December 24, 2012.
8. "1993 Traffic Volume Report for New York State". New York State Department of Transportation: 195.

External links

• New York State Route 163 at New York Routes • New York State Highway Termini