Clinching NY 384, NY 189, and NY 22

[vdeane]

I'm thinking of taking a trip east to clinch some highways and I'm hoping on fudging a clinch of the northern end of these roads.  One problem - there doesn't seem to be any place to turn off these roads with the border visible without actually going through customs.  Any ideas?

[empirestate]

I did the north end of NY 22 several years back. There was a turnaround right at the border, but a little north of the customs station so I did get waved into it. It took a minute before I explained to the guard that I wasn't entering from Canada (I assumed he'd seen me turn around but apparently not). But I don't see why you couldn't stop short of the customs station and bang a U-y there...worst case, if they grill you, you can just explain that you didn't realize the border was so close and you just want to avoid crossing over.

I haven't been to NY 189 or NY 374 (which I assume you mean instead of 384), but those stations seem to be closer to the line so you can probably get to within view of the border without having to pass through them.

[Duke87]

The US Border Patrol on NY 22 gave me a hard time, wanting to know why the hell I was crossing there if I was coming from Montreal and going all the way to Connecticut. But you live up there, so maybe they won't bother you.

Unfortunately most routes that end at the border cannot legitimately be clinched without crossing it, and NY 22 is no exception. 

[vdeane]

NY 22 looks like it has a couple houses just south of customs that I could turn around in.  NY 374 has a couple large dirt areas just south of customs as well.  NY 189 is trickier; the only thing near customs is a driveway directly across from it, and the next closest thing is a tiny dirt driveway 1/3 mile south.  Technically I could probably do a K turn but I'd rather not as that might look suspicious.

I'm thinking I'll do this on a Sunday, since I've never seen border patrol out on Sundays, so the only people around would be customs.

[vdeane]

So I just discovered the existance of VT 225; guess I'll have to add that to the list just in case CHM ever decides to include Vermont state highways (why aren't they there now?  It's the only state in the area that doesn't have them!).  Do you think turning around just shy of customs is likely to attract the attention of customs or border control?  That's my main worry.

I've written down the turnoff points.  I might decide to keep a post-it note with the mileage from US 11 (or US 2 in the case of VT 225):
-VT 225: a driveway 2/10 mile from where the road splits for customs
-NY 22: driveway 1/10 mile from customs; there's also one 3/10 from customs but it doesn't look like you can see the border from there, judging by street view
-NY 189: dirt "driveway" a little over 1/4 mile from customs
-NY 374: either the dirt field thing 1/10 mile from customs or the area with a lot of trucks 3/10 mile from customs

Hopefully Google's satellite imagery is up to date.  MapQuest shows all these points in existence so hopefully nothing's vanished.

[Duke87]

Bring your passport with you just in case. You might get caught in one hell of a jam otherwise.

As for CHM and Vermont, it was being worked on, but they've removed it from the "in development" list. I presume it's now a project up for grabs if anyone wants to take it on. Might want to ask Froggie if you're interested, he was the one working on it.

[vdeane]

Was planning on it in any case.  Though looking at Google Street View for stuff in Potsdam, it doesn't look like I can rely on it as a guide of what can be seen from certain distances; stuff that's plain as day while driving is barely visible (if visible at all) in street view, so I should be able to use the 3/10 mile one for NY 22; not sure about NY 374 as the road is slightly curved.