New York State Route 258

New York State Route 258 marker
New York State Route 258
Flats Road
Map
Map of Livingston and Wyoming counties with NY 258 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length1.85 mi[1] (2.98 km)
Existedc. 1931[2][3]–present
Major junctions
West end NY 36 on GrovelandWest Sparta town line
East end NY 63 in Groveland
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CountiesLivingston
Highway system
NY 257 NY 259

New York State Route 258 (NY 258) is a state highway located entirely within the town of Groveland in Livingston County, New York, in the United States. It connects NY 36 in the hamlet of Ross Corners to NY 63 in the hamlet of Groveland Station. NY 258 is named Flats Road and passes through the flat terrain of the valley surrounding Canaseraga Creek. Most of NY 258 is routed along the Groveland–West Sparta town line.

Although modern NY 258 is nothing more than a simple east–west connector between NY 36 and NY 63, it originally extended westward past NY 36 to NY 408 in the town of Mount Morris when it was first assigned in the early 1930s. By 1983, maintenance of all of NY 258 west of NY 36 had been transferred to Livingston County, leading to the truncation of the route to NY 36 in the mid-1990s.

Route description

A two-lane paved road stretching straight ahead, going slightly downhill to a level section across fields towards a ridge in the rear. At the right of the image is a sign with "EAST 258" on it.
View from western terminus through the Groveland Flats

NY 258 begins at an intersection with NY 36 on the GrovelandWest Sparta town line. The route heads eastward down a small hill, which leads to the flat terrain and open fields of the Canaseraga Creek valley that gives NY 258 the name of Flats Road. About 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of NY 36, NY 258 crosses the Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad. East of the railroad crossing, NY 258 veers northeastward off the town line as it approaches the hamlet of Groveland Station. In its final 0.25 miles (0.40 km), the route passes over Canaseraga Creek and climbs slightly in elevation upon entering Groveland Station. NY 258 terminates in the center of the hamlet at a junction with NY 63.[4]

History

When NY 258 was assigned c. 1931, it extended from NY 63 (now NY 408) in the town of Mount Morris to NY 36A (modern NY 63) in Groveland. In between, NY 258 served the hamlet of Tuscarora and intersected NY 36.[2][3] NY 245, a parallel route to the south that extended from Pike to the city of Geneva via Dansville, was realigned between the villages of Nunda and Dansville in the late 1940s to overlap NY 408, NY 258, and NY 36 between the two locations.[5][6] The overlap between NY 245 and NY 258 was eliminated in the late 1950s when NY 245 was restored to its previous, direct alignment between Nunda and Dansville.[7][8]

NY 258 through the Groveland Flats of Canaseraga Creek were a constant flooding location during the spring and autumn.[9] Fishermen would use Groveland Flats certain times for fishing for carp that would flood through the flats.[10] After flooding in September 1967,[11] a new study came out about how to deal with the flooding. This would have involved inundating NY 258 through the Groveland Flats with water. Thomas F. McGowan, a New York State Assemblyman, opposed the project because losing the stretch of NY 258 would cut a vital connection between NY 36 and NY 63. It also would force a detour of 15–20 miles (24–32 km) for commuters and isolate members of the Groveland Fire District.[12] The new project proposed to cost $7.4 million (1968 USD), despite opposition of Assemblyman James Emery of Geneseo, who preferred working with the state on improving NY 258.[13] In March 1968, Emery announced that the New York State Department of Transportation had a project ready to be started for raising NY 258 through the Groveland Flats.[14]

A two-lane paved road, wet in spots, stretching straight ahead with fields on either side towards a ridge in the distance. Above it in the sky is a cloud with orange-tinted sunlight on it; there is also a low mist over the fields in the distance.
Alternate view from western terminus through the Groveland Flats

The project to raise NY 258 through the Groveland Flats hit a snag in 1969 due to delays related to the construction of the Genesee Expressway. The work involved the possibility of NY 258 and the expressway overlapping, so they chose to work on the projects concurrently, which involved deferring NY 258. Assemblyman Emery was notified that the expressway would be on the section of NY 258 west of the Groveland Flats and there was no reason to continue deferral.[15] On February 14, 1970, Emery announced that NYSDOT would start construction on the project in 1972, with a slated completion in 1973. The new project would raise NY 258 above the flood line.[16]

On April 1, 1983, ownership and maintenance of NY 258 between Main Street in Tuscarora and NY 36 at Ross Corners was transferred from the state of New York to Livingston County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government.[17] NY 258's routing was unchanged; instead, it became concurrent with County Route 72 (CR 72) as a result of the shift in maintenance. It became the second section of NY 258 to be transferred to Livingston County, as the portion from NY 408 near Brooks Grove to Presbyterian Road in Tuscarora had been co-designated as part of CR 3 sometime prior to the swap.[18] The county-maintained western extension of NY 258 remained intact until the mid-1990s when NY 258 was truncated to its junction with NY 36 at Ross Corners.[19][20]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Livingston County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
GrovelandWest Sparta
town line
0.000.00 NY 36Western terminus; hamlet of Ross Corners
Groveland1.852.98 NY 63 – Geneseo, DansvilleEastern terminus; hamlet of Groveland Station
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. p. 279. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Road Map of New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. Standard Oil Company of New York. 1930.
  3. ^ a b New York (Map). Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company. Kendall Refining Company. 1931.
  4. ^ Microsoft; Nokia. "overview map of NY 258" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  5. ^ New York Road Map and Pictorial Sight-Seeing Guide (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. Sinclair Oil Corporation. 1947.
  6. ^ New York (Map) (1950 ed.). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1949.
  7. ^ New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region (Map) (1958 ed.). Cartography by General Drafting. Esso. 1958.
  8. ^ New York and New Jersey Tourgide Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. Gulf Oil Company. 1960.
  9. ^ "Route 258 Shut By High Water". The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. March 20, 1963. p. 61. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ^ "Flooded Flats Beckon". The Rochester and Democrat Chronicle. May 20, 1966. p. 37. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ^ "Heavy Rains Bring Few Floods to Area". The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. September 30, 1967. p. 9. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ Bickel, Bob (October 26, 1967). "Opposition Dominates Hearing". The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. p. 46. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  13. ^ Bickel, Bob (January 30, 1968). "Flood Relief Plan Pushed in Livingston". The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. p. 39. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  14. ^ "Rt. 258 Raising to End Detour". The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. March 12, 1968. p. 44. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ^ "Plan Groveland Road Project". The Genesee County Express. April 3, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  16. ^ "Finally -- Success! Road Work OK'd". The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. February 15, 1970. p. 44. Retrieved March 6, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  17. ^ New York State Legislature. "New York State Highway Law § 341". Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  18. ^ Sonyea Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. New York State Department of Transportation. 1984. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
  19. ^ New York (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. Rand McNally and Company. 1995. ISBN 0-528-96764-9.
  20. ^ Mount Morris Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. New York State Department of Transportation. 1998. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
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