NY 3 between Hannibal and Fulton was placed on a new alignment during
the late 1960s/early 1970s, possibly as part of the US/NY 104 super-two
project that took place in the time. This page has photos of the old
alignment of NY 3 in Hannibal. The old alignment is now known as Oswego
CR 3. There is a dead end of Oswego CR 3 around where NY 3 and NY 104 currently intersect.
When I had this information on a page on a former website I used to help operate a number of years ago, I received an email from a gentleman by the name of Daniel Harmony who helped provide some additional background information for me. The information he provided was as follows:
"I was reading the narration you have posted concerning the western end of Oswego County 3, formerly NY 3, at Hannibal. The directional sign to the new NY 3 was installed at the time the new
road opened. The roadway itself had been used to move traffic back and
forth from the new alignment to the old during the construction phase. What you referred to as a driveway at the western end of CR 3 was built
as a turn around (perhaps for motorists who missed the NY 3
directional). This was part of the original construction. I assume its
true purpose was for snow plows to turn. When the new highway was built, the alignment entering the village was
changed radically. As your picture shows, the original alignment was
straight into the village from the old road. This was a particularly
rough section of road with a narrow bridge just before entering the main
square in the village.
By the way, up until some time in the early 1980's (I think), NY 3 ended
in Hannibal. It had ended at the junction with US 104 when that road
also ran through the village up until the early 1960's. NY 3 was
extended west to NY 104A at Crocketts when a plan surfaced to construct
some chemical waste disposal plant at the site of what was to have been
the Sterling Nuclear Plant. One of the objections raised was that there
was no adequate roadway to get to I-90. The state took over what had
been town-maintained roads and did a total rebuild following the 1984
Transportation Bond Act (Rebuilding New York program)."
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| Peering over at the NY 3 and NY 104 intersection. |
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| Looking east at Oswego CR 3. That is a driveway or more than likely, a snowplow turnaround. |
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| END Oswego CR 3 shield westbound. |
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| An old NY 3 shield (with NY on top of the shield) near the western end of Oswego CR 3. There appears to have been a period of time where travelers were asked
to switch off between the new alignment and the old alignment. Here is
an old NY 3 shield on Oswego CR 3 westbound that may have been used for
that purpose. |
Sources and Links:
Daniel Harmony (information)
Doug Kerr (photos and information)
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