New York State Route 417 (NY 417) is an east–west state highway located in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It begins at exit 20 of the Southern Tier Expressway (Interstate 86 or I-86 and NY 17) in the city of Salamanca and ends at a junction with NY 415 in Painted Post, west of the city of Corning. At in length, NY 417 is the longest of the state highways that were formerly part of NY 17 before the construction of the Southern Tier Expressway. It also diverges the most from the current NY 17, coming within of the Pennsylvania state line at one intersection.
In 1908, the New York State Legislature created Route 4, an unsigned legislative route extending across the Southern Tier from Lake Erie to the Hudson River. The route followed most of what is now NY 417; however, from Olean to Wellsville and from Andover to Jasper, it followed a more northerly alignment instead. Most of Route 4 became NY 17 in 1924, and NY 17 was realigned in 1930 to follow all of modern NY 417 between Salamanca and Corning. The highway remained part of NY 17 until the 1960s and 1970s, when NY 17 was moved onto the Southern Tier Expressway as sections of the new freeway opened to traffic.
On January 1, 1970, NY 417 was assigned to NY 17's former routing between Steamburg and Salamanca. This section was closed to traffic soon afterward, but NY 417 was subsequently reassigned to NY 17's old alignment between Allegany and Corning. The remainder of the expressway between Salamanca and Allegany was completed by the early 1990s, and NY 417 was extended west to cover the highway vacated by NY 17. On its east end, NY 417 originally overlapped with US 15 to meet NY 17 in Painted Post. It was altered in 1997 to directly serve Gang Mills via Hamilton Street and extended into Painted Post in 2008.
Route description
All of NY 417 in Allegany and Steuben counties is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). In Cattaraugus County, maintenance of the route is split between NYSDOT and the cities of Olean and Salamanca. All of NY 417 within Olean is city-maintained, save for one block of East State Street between NY 16 and Barry Street. To the west in Salamanca, the route is locally maintained from the junction of Clinton Street and Wildwood Avenue to the eastern city line. The Allegany Indian Reservation has jurisdiction over the portion of NY 417 that lies outside of the Salamanca city limits but within the reservation; however, this section is maintained by NYSDOT.
Cattaraugus County
NY 417 begins at the Seneca Allegany Casino, just south of the exit 20 interchange with the Southern Tier Expressway (I-86 and NY 17) in Salamanca, a city wholly located within the Allegany Indian Reservation. After merging with R. C. Hoag Drive (Old Route 17), the highway heads east as Broad Street, crossing through the city's business district and intersecting the south end of NY 353 and paralleling the Allegheny River as it passes through the mostly residential central portion of the city. NY 417 changes names to Clinton Street after crossing Main Street, and subsequently intersects U.S. Route 219 (US 219) eight blocks later at Parkway Drive (exit 21 of I-86). US 219 joins NY 417 here, and the two routes head northeast across a long bridge carrying Clinton Street across the Allegheny River. On the north bank, Clinton Street merges with Wildwood Avenue, at which point US 219 and NY 417 join the latter for five blocks to a junction with Central Avenue. US 219 leaves NY 417 here, following Central Avenue out of the city while NY 417 continues east as part of US 219 Business.
Not far to the east of US 219, US 219 Business and NY 417 leave Salamanca upon crossing over Great Valley Creek, which serves as the boundary between Salamanca and the hamlet of Kill Buck. The concurrency continues eastward through Kill Buck and into reservation land within the bounds of Great Valley, transitioning to forests and otherwise undeveloped areas as the highway turns south to follow the eastern edge of the Allegheny River valley. The river, the valley, and the road all turn back to the east in the adjacent town of Carrollton, where US 219 Business leaves NY 417 to continue south toward I-86 exit 23 and on to Limestone and Bradford, Pennsylvania. NY 417 continues to follow the Allegheny River and the nearby Southern Tier Expressway (STE) to the hamlet of Vandalia, the easternmost point of the reservation. Continuing into the town of Allegany, NY 417 indirectly intersects with I-86 and NY 17 at exist 24. From there, it passes through the village of Allegany and serves the campus of St. Bonaventure University before entering the city of Olean, the largest community along its length.