{{Short description|State highway in Herkimer County, New York, US}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road |state=NY |type=NY |route=169 |map={{maplink-road}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=NY 169 highlighted in red |maint=NYSDOT and the city of Little Falls |length_mi=12.42 |length_round=2 |length_ref=<ref name="2008tvr" /> |established=1930<ref name="1930map" /> |direction_a=South |terminus_a={{jct|state=NY|NY|5S}} in Danube |junction={{jct|state=NY|NY|5|NY|167}} in Little Falls |direction_b=North |terminus_b={{jct|state=NY|NY|28|NY|29}} in Middleville |counties=Herkimer |previous_type=NY |previous_route=168 |next_type=NY |next_route=170 }} '''New York State Route 169''' ('''NY 169''') is a {{convert|12.42|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} north–south state highway located within Herkimer County, New York, in the United States. It extends from an intersection with NY 5S in the town of Danube to a junction with NY 28 and NY 29 in the village of Middleville. The route connects the city of Little Falls to the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90 or I-90), which bypasses the city to the south. Outside of Little Falls, NY 169 is a two-lane highway that passes through sparsely developed areas.
In 1910, the portion of NY 169 between Little Falls and Middleville became part of Route 26, an unsigned legislative route created by the New York State Legislature. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, it became signed as NY 169 and originally extended from NY 5 in Little Falls to NY 28 and NY 29 in Middleville. It was then later extended southward in the late 1970s to connect to a new exit on the Thruway.
==Route description== thumb|left|NY 169 approaching the Thruway and NY 5S NY 169 begins a short distance north of New York State Thruway (I-90) exit 29A at an intersection with NY 5S in the town of Danube. It initially heads northward, paralleling a north–south roadway leading away from the exit that overpasses NY 5S. The two roads converge after {{convert|0.37|mi|km}}, directly connecting NY 169 to the Thruway.<ref name="2008tvr"/> NY 169 continues on a northward course to just south of the Mohawk River, where it turns to the northwest and subsequently follows the river, through a wooded area that leads toward the city of Little Falls.<ref name=GM>{{google maps |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/43.0210607,-74.8193552/43.1390239,-74.9692913/@43.0800138,-74.9646486,12z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-74.8562121!2d43.0445549!3s0x89deb68a2b231fb3:0x33b368b6f1c07ee6!1m0!3e0 |title=Overview map of NY 169 |accessdate=November 22, 2015}}</ref>
thumb|right|NY 169 northbound at junction with NY 5 and NY 167 As the route approaches Little Falls, it makes a slight turn to the north, crossing over the Mohawk River (here part of the Erie Canal) and the CSX Railroad, on its way to an intersection with a divided highway carrying NY 5 and NY 167. NY 169 turns west here, following the highway for {{convert|0.22|mi|km}}<ref name="2008tvr"/> toward Little Falls. The resulting overlap with NY 167 is a wrong-way concurrency as NY 169 northbound is concurrent to NY 167 southbound and vice versa. At East Main Street, NY 169 leaves NY 5 and NY 167 to follow East Main Street into the city. The street splits into a one-way couplet three blocks later, at which point southbound NY 169 is shifted one block south onto Albany Street.<ref name=GM/>
The route follows the couplet for three blocks, passing through the city's central business district prior to intersecting Ann Street. Here, the two directions of NY 169 converge to follow Ann Street north into a more residential neighborhood. The junction of Albany Street and Ann Street also features northbound NY 167, which approaches the same intersection from the west along Albany Street and abuts NY 169 southbound as the latter route turns east on Albany Street from Ann Street. NY 169 follows Ann Street for four blocks (five southbound) to Monroe Street, where it intersects the southern terminus of NY 170.<ref name=GM/> left|thumb|NY 169 at its terminus with NY 28 and NY 29 in Middleville While East Monroe Street, located to the east of Ann Street, heads along the northern fringe of Little Falls as NY 170, West Monroe Street carries NY 169 northwestward past more homes and, eventually, out of the city limits. Now in the town of Little Falls, the route passes through mostly open areas while serving a small handful of isolated homes. It eventually crosses into the town of Fairfield, where it takes on a more northerly and more winding alignment. After {{convert|4.5|mi|1}}, the route reaches the village of Middleville, located {{convert|8|mi|0|spell=in}} northwest of Little Falls. Within Middleville, NY 169 passes by a row of homes prior to ending at an intersection with NY 28 and the western terminus of NY 29.<ref name=GM/>
==History== The portion of what is now NY 169 between the Little Falls city line and Middleville became part of a realigned Route 26, an unsigned legislative route, created by the New York State Legislature in 1910. Route 26 extended from Routes 5 and 6 in Mohawk, eastward to the city of Little Falls, then north to Trenton, via Middleville and Newport, where it intersected Route 25.<ref name="1920book">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8dANAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA539 |author=New York State Department of Highways |title=Report of the State Commissioner of Highways |year=1920 |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |location=Albany, NY |page=539 |accessdate=June 25, 2010}}</ref> NY 169 was not assigned a posted designation until the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York when it was designated as NY 169, which originally began in downtown Little Falls at NY 5.<ref name="1930map">{{cite map |title=Road Map of New York |year=1930 |publisher=Standard Oil Company of New York |cartography=General Drafting}}</ref><ref name="1970log">{{cite book |url=http://www.greaternyroads.info/pdfs/state70.pdf |title=Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State |date=January 1, 1970 |author=State of New York Department of Transportation |accessdate=April 7, 2020 |author-link=State of New York Department of Transportation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225122503/http://www.greaternyroads.info/pdfs/state70.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
thumb|Thruway exit 29A By December 1973, exit 29A on the Thruway was completed, along with new roadway leading from the exit to the south end of the Finks Basin Bridge.<ref name="littlefallsarterial">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqY1AQAAMAAJ&dq=ny+169+arterial+little+falls&pg=RA1-PA1|title=Southeast Arterial Hwy, Route 169 Replacement, Little Falls |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |year=1977 |accessdate=April 6, 2020}}</ref> Then by December 1974, the NY 5 arterial was completed in Little Falls. At this time the only main connection between the Thruway and Little Falls was the Finks Basin Bridge, a one-way signalized bridge with a 15 ton limit. This caused trucks over 15 tons to detour {{convert|5.21|mi|km}} along NY 5S and NY 167 to access Little Falls. Along NY 5S trucks had to climb a steep 7.2% grade for just over {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} then descend 7% grade for {{convert|.5|mi|km}}.<ref name="littlefallsarterial"/> Then by 1978,<ref name="little falls quad">{{cite map |url=https://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=p40 |title=Little Falls Digital Raster Quadrangle |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |year=1978 |scale=1:24,000 |accessdate=April 6, 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407155726/https://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm%3Fcode%3Dp40 |archivedate=April 7, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> a new two-lane arterial highway was being built from NY 5 to the south side of the Finks Basin Bridge, where it intersected the previously built roadway linking to the Thruway. By 1981, the new roadway was completed and NY 169 was extended south to NY 5S and better accessed the new exit 29A on the New York State Thruway.<ref name="littlefallsarterial"/><ref>{{cite map |title=New York Thruway |publisher=New York State Thruway Authority |cartography=Rand McNally and Company |year=1971}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |title=New York |publisher=Shell Oil Company |cartography=H.M. Gousha Company |year=1973 |edition=1973}}</ref>
On August 4, 2006, a section of NY 169 was closed to traffic, {{convert|.5|mi|km}} north of the intersection with North Creek Road, due to a deficient culvert pipe. The new pipe, installed by Reale Construction Company, was installed and open to traffic on October 6, 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/portal/page/portal/news/traveler-advisories/2006/6 |title=ROUTE 169 IN THE TOWN OF FAIRFIELD OPENS — NEW CULVERT INSTALLED AND HIGHWAY OPEN TO TRAFFIC |date=October 6, 2006 |publisher=NYSDOT |accessdate=April 29, 2020}}</ref> On April 9, 2010, the bridge that carries NY 169 over Stoney Creek was closed to traffic, to perform repairs. The bridge was reopened May, 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/portal/page/portal/news/traveler-advisories/2006/2010-04-073 |title=ROUTE 169 BRIDGE OVER STONEY CREEK TO CLOSE FOR REPAIR ON APRIL 9, HERKIMER COUNTY |date=April 7, 2010 |publisher=NYSDOT |accessdate=April 29, 2020}}</ref>
==Major intersections== {{NYinttop|length_ref=<ref name="2008tvr">{{cite web |url=https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Volume%20Report%202008.pdf |title=2008 Traffic Volume Report for New York State |date=June 16, 2009 |page=177 |publisher=New York State Department of Transportation |accessdate=February 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927024222/https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/Traffic%20Volume%20Report%202008.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>|county=Herkimer}} {{NYint |mile=0.00 |road={{jct|state=NY|NY|5S|city1=Fort Plain|city2=Mohawk|countydab2=Herkimer}} |location=Danube |lspan=2 |notes=Southern terminus }} {{NYint |type=etc |mile=0.37 |road={{jct|state=NY|to1=yes|I|90|NYST|city1=Albany|city2=Utica}} |notes= }} {{NYint |location=Little Falls |lspan=4 |area=city |mile=2.31 |road={{jct|state=NY|NY|5|NY|167|dir1=east|dir2=north|city1=Dolgeville|city2=St. Johnsville|areadab2=village}} |type=concur |notes=Southern terminus of NY 5 / NY 167 overlap }} {{NYint |mile=2.53 |road={{jct|state=NY|NY|5|NY|167|dir1=west|dir2=south}} |type=concur |notes=Northern terminus of NY 5 / NY 167 overlap }} {{NYint |type=incomplete |road={{jct|state=NY|NY|167|dir1=north}} |notes=No northbound access }} {{NYint |mile=3.28 |road={{jct|state=NY|NY|170|dir1=north|name1=East Monroe Street}} |notes=Southern terminus of NY 170 }} {{NYint |mile=12.42 |road={{jct|state=NY|NY|28|NY|29|dir2=east|city1=Poland|countydab1=Herkimer|city2=Herkimer|areadab2=village|city3=Fairfield}} |location=Middleville |notes=Northern terminus; western terminus of NY 29 }} {{Jctintbtm|keys=etc,concur,incomplete}}
==See also== *{{Portal-inline|U.S. roads}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Attached KML}} {{Commons category|New York State Route 169}} {{NYSR external links|type=N|nyroutes=yes|termini=yes|route=169|alps=yes}}
169 Category:Transportation in Herkimer County, New York