Pennsylvania - U.S. Highway 309 and U.S. Highway 220
This seems to be a spot of more than passing interest to road enthusiasts. In the Fall of 1961, I started work on my Master's degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY - my first time living away from home. I had no car, but went exploring by bus, which was quite easy to do back then. In October, I decided to take in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, NY. To get there, I had to change buses in Waverly, NY. Well aware of the oddity of US 220/309 ending there and going no further into New York state, I had the time to walk from the bus station to the state line, where I took this photo. This was long before the construction of the Southern Tier Expressway, and NY 17 followed the town streets thru Waverly. BTW, I hitchhiked back from Watkins Glen – wouldn’t do that today).
I found that US 220/309 was not even signed in New York State – not a single official shield. From NY 17, there was only a "local" sign, a white rectangle with the words "To US 220-309." Unfortunately, I took no picture as I was rationing my 36-exposure Kodachrome. I followed those “home-made” signs just a few blocks to the state line. The photo shows the first official route shields southbound. I find it interesting that they were attached to the "NY Line" post, which also is Pennsylvania-made (including the old legislative route reference sign at the bottom). I recall that there were no signs directing you from there to NY 17.
In July 2009, I tried to find this spot. Of course, US 309 is gone, US 220 lies to the west and NY 34/Penna 199 lies to the east (where that well-known green sign showing both states’ route shields is located.). From where I stood in 1961 looking into Pennsylvania, you now see the bridge over I-86/NY 17, where the NY-maintained route actually dips into Pennsylvania for about a mile.
Photo by Jim Lindsay, 10/7/1961.