New York State Route 117

NYS Route 117
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length:	15.57 mi[2] (25.06 km)
Existed:	1930[1] – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 9 in Mount Pleasant
	NY 9A / NY 100 in Mount Pleasant
North end:	Saw Mill Parkway in Bedford
Location
Counties:	Westchester
Highway system
Numbered highways in New York Interstate • U.S. • N.Y. (former) • Reference • County ← NY 116 NY 118 →

New York State Route 117 (NY 117) is a 15.57 mile (25.06 km) long state highway in Westchester County, New York, United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 9 north of the village of Sleepy Hollow. The northern terminus is at the Saw Mill River Parkway south of Katonah, a hamlet in the town of Bedford. NY 117 meets the Taconic State Parkway in Pleasantville and parallels the Saw Mill Parkway from Pleasantville to Bedford.

NY 117 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and originally extended from Tarrytown to Katonah. The Tarrytown–Pleasantville portion of NY 117 passed through Kykuit, the estate of the Rockefeller family. Construction on a new limited-access highway bypassing the estate to the north began in the late 1960s and was completed in 1971, at which time NY 117 was realigned to follow the highway. Another highway bypassing Katonah was built in the early 1990s and opened ca. 1992 as a realignment of NY 117.

Route description

NY 117 signage on the Taconic Parkway

NY 117 begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 9 just north of the village of Sleepy Hollow in the town of Mount Pleasant. It heads east through the town of Mount Pleasant as Phelps Way, a 2.6-mile (4.2 km) long limited-access highway straddling the northern edge of Kykuit, the estate of the Rockefeller family. The freeway ends at an intersection with NY 448 near the northeastern extent of the park. NY 117 continues through Mount Pleasant, intersecting the conjoined routes of NY 9A and NY 100 and crossing over the Taconic State Parkway as it enters the village of Pleasantville.

Northern terminus of NY 117

Within Pleasantville, NY 117 becomes Bedford Road and begins to parallel the Saw Mill River Parkway. It veers onto Manville Road, following it through the village to its end at Bedford Avenue (NY 141). NY 141 ends here while NY 117 turns north, rejoining Bedford Road. It remains close to the Saw Mill Parkway as it passes through the towns and villages of New Castle, Mount Kisco, and Bedford. Over this stretch, NY 117 intersects NY 120 in Chappaqua and NY 128, NY 172, and NY 133 in Mount Kisco.

In Bedford, NY 117 connects to the Saw Mill Parkway at exit 39 and passes under the highway. A second interchange follows roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) later, at which point NY 117 leaves Bedford Road to follow Harris Road and the Katonah Bypass. The bypass and NY 117 both end shortly afterward upon merging with the northbound Saw Mill Parkway. Incidentally, the Saw Mill Parkway itself ends a short distance to the north upon merging with Interstate 684 near the hamlet of Katonah.

History

Origins and local realignments

Tarrytown as it was in 1938. NY 9A entered from upper right and proceeded west to meet US 9. NY 117 began at the junction with NY 9A in the upper central portion of this image.

NY 117 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. It initially began at the junction of Bedford and County House Roads in Tarrytown (both part of NY 9A at the time) and followed Bedford Road northeast to NY 132 (now NY 35) at Jay Street in Katonah.^[1] NY 9A was realigned ca. 1939 to follow Sleepy Hollow Road instead, bypassing Tarrytown completely. The former routing of NY 9A on Bedford Road to U.S. Route 9 became a short extension of NY 117.^[3][4] The route was also extended on its northern end in the mid-1970s after NY 35 was moved onto a new highway that bypassed Katonah to the north.^[5][6]

On September 1, 1980, ownership and maintenance of NY 117 between Manville Road southwest of the Pleasantville village limits and Broadway within Pleasantville was transferred from the state of New York to Westchester County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government. In return, ownership and maintenance of the entirety of Manville Road through Pleasantville was given to the state of New York from Westchester County.^[7] NY 117 was rerouted to follow Manville Road while NY 141 was extended one block north along NY 117's former routing to intersect Manville Road. The remainder of NY 117's former routing is now County Route 27A from Manville Road to the Pleasantville village line, part of CR 106 from View Street to Pleasantville Road, and CR 27 from the Mount Pleasant village line to View Street and from Pleasantville Road to NY 141.^[8][9]

Phelps Way

The portion of NY 117's original routing between Tarrytown and Pleasantville passed through the center of Kykuit, the estate of the Rockefeller family, and was designed to handle 1,900 cars per day. The actual volume of traffic on the roadway was much higher as the actual average annual daily traffic reached upwards of 5,000 vehicles per day. As a result, the Rockefeller family looked into having the route realigned as early as 1932. The family suggested that a new highway be built along the northern end of the estate.^[10]

Over time, the Rockefellers had secured zoning permits to build developments on the northern edge of the estate. The movement to construct a new highway along this land began to gain steam when Nelson Rockefeller became Governor of New York. In 1965, Rockefeller unveiled plans for the "Potantico Expressway", a connector from the to-be-constructed Hudson River Expressway (I-487) to the Taconic State Parkway. Some opposition to the idea arose on the grounds that the new highway would quadruple the value of the estate land used by the road. Nonetheless, construction began on the Potantico Expressway (now known as Phelps Way) in 1969. When the highway was completed in 1971, it became part of a rerouted NY 117. NY 117's former alignment along Bedford Road became NY 448. The Hudson River Expressway project was later cancelled, and the western stub of the expressway now serves Phelps Hospital.^[10]

Katonah Bypass

Diagram of northern terminus realignment.

The easternmost portion of NY 117 in Katonah passed through a historic district containing several homes dating back to the late 19th century.^[11] Following the construction of nearby Interstate 684 in 1968, this segment of NY 117 became a truck route between the Interstate Highway and industrial areas along NY 117 south of Katonah. While the Saw Mill River Parkway would have provided an alternate route to I-684 from NY 117, commercial traffic was prohibited from using the highway.^[12] The trucks that used NY 117 would shake the historic homes as it passed through the hamlet, causing small amounts of damage to the structures.^[11][12] A study analyzing the issue of truck traffic along NY 117 in Katonah began in 1976 at the request of the town of Bedford.^[11]

The study was completed in 1978, at which time the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) concluded that traffic would never become heavy enough along NY 117 to bring about a need for a bypass. However, the state continued to keep abreast of the situation and eventually performed a second study in 1983. Unlike the first study, this one found traffic along the highway to be on the rise. As a result, the state began making plans to construct a bypass that would divert truck traffic away from Katonah. Over the next three years, NYSDOT proposed a total of nine different routings for the bypass. The route selected by the town of Bedford would begin at Harris Road and head north and east to the Saw Mill Parkway, which it would merge into. An exception would then be made to allow commercial traffic on the parkway between the Katonah Bypass and I-684. The routing of the highway, projected to cost $8.7 million^[11] (equivalent to $16.8 million in 2011),^[13] was approved in November 1987.^[11]

In October 1990, NYSDOT accepted a low bid of $8.5 million^[12] (equivalent to $14.3 million in 2011)^[13] for the project, clearing the way for construction to begin on the bypass by the following month.^[12] The Katonah Bypass opened ca. 1992 and became part of a realigned NY 117.^[14] The portion of Bedford Road from Harris Road to NY 35 is now maintained by the town of Bedford.^[15]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Westchester County.

Location	Mile[2]	Destinations	Notes
Mount Pleasant	0.00	US 9	Just outside Sleepy Hollow village line
	2.62	NY 448	Eastern terminus of NY 448
	2.93	NY 9A / NY 100
	~2.9	Taconic Parkway	Access to northbound Taconic Pkwy only
Pleasantville	4.02	Saw Mill Parkway	Access to southbound Saw Mill Pkwy only; exit 29 (Saw Mill Pkwy)
	5.30	NY 141	Northern terminus of NY 141
New Castle	6.75	NY 120
Mount Kisco	9.74	NY 128	Northern terminus of NY 128
	10.29	NY 172	Western terminus of NY 172
	11.14	NY 133	Eastern terminus of NY 133
Town of Bedford	13.76	Saw Mill Parkway	Exit 39 (Saw Mill Pkwy)
	14.73	Harris Road
	15.57	Saw Mill Parkway	Merge onto northbound Saw Mill Pkwy
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

New York Roads portal

1. ^ ^{a b} Standard Oil Company of New York (1930). Road Map of New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "2008 Traffic Volume Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. pp. 164–165. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT%20TVR%202008%20by%20Route.pdf. Retrieved January 30, 2010. 
3. ^ United States Geological Survey (1938). New York (Westchester County) – White Plains Quadrangle (Map). 1:31,680. 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic). http://docs.unh.edu/NY/wtpl38nw.jpg. Retrieved May 27, 2009. 
4. ^ Standard Oil Company (1939). New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. 
5. ^ Shell Oil Company (1973). New York (Map). Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company (1973 ed.). 
6. ^ Exxon (1977). New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting (1977–78 ed.). 
7. ^ New York State Legislature. "Highway Law, Article 12, Section 341". http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS. Retrieved May 24, 2009. 
8. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (1991). Ossining Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=ee48. Retrieved June 6, 2010. 
9. ^ Westchester County Department of Public Works. "Pleasantville County Roads". http://www.westchestergov.com/dpw/County%20Roads/pleasantvilleroads.htm. Retrieved May 27, 2009. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Anderson, Steve. "Phelps Way (NY 117)". NYCRoads. http://www.nycroads.com/roads/NY-117/. Retrieved May 27, 2009. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d e} Brown, Betsy (December 13, 1987). "A Route is Chosen for the Katonah Bypass". The New York Times: p. 1, section 11WC. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/13/nyregion/a-route-is-chosen-for-the-katonah-bypass.html. Retrieved May 27, 2009. 
12. ^ ^{a b c d} Melvin, Tessa (October 21, 1990). "Work to Begin on Katonah Bypass". The New York Times: p. 6, section 12WC. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/21/nyregion/work-to-begin-on-katonah-bypass.html. Retrieved May 27, 2009. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
14. ^ Federal Highway Administration (2008). "Structure 1074590". National Bridge Inventory. United States Department of Transportation. http://nationalbridges.com/nbi_record.php?StateCode=36&struct=000000001074590. Retrieved May 27, 2009. 
15. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (March 2, 2009). "Region 8 Inventory Listing". https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/highway-data-services/inventory-listing. Retrieved May 27, 2009. 

External links

• Alps' Roads – New York State Route 117
• New York Routes – New York State Route 117
• New York State Highway Termini – New York State Route 117
• NY 117 Phelps Way on NYCROADS.com