State Route 74 (New York–Vermont)

New York State Route 74 (NY 74) and Vermont Route 74 (VT 74) are state highways in the northeastern United States, connected by one of the last remaining cable ferries in North America. Together they extend for 34 miles (55 km) through Essex County, New York, and Addison County, Vermont. NY 74 begins at exit 28 off Interstate 87 (I-87) in the hamlet of Severance in the Adirondack Mountains region of the northern part of New York State. It extends 20.44 miles (32.89 km) to the western shore of Lake Champlain in Ticonderoga. There, the seasonal Fort Ticonderoga–Larrabees Point Ferry carries cars across the state border into Vermont, where VT 74 starts at the lake's eastern shore and terminates 13.26 miles (21.34 km) later at a junction with VT 30 in the town of Cornwall.

Route 74

NY 74 and VT 74 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and VTrans
Length33.713 mi (54.256 km)
20.45 mi in New York
13.263 mi in Vermont
HistoryNY 74 designated NY 73 in 1930; renumbered to NY 74 on July 1, 1972
VT 74 assigned 1954
Major junctions
West end I-87 in Schroon, NY
Major intersections
East end VT 30 in Cornwall, VT
Location
CountryUnited States
StatesNew York, Vermont
CountiesEssex (NY), Addison (VT)
Highway system
NY 73NY NY 75
VT 73AVT VT 78
VT F-8VT F-9 VT F-10

The ferry connecting the two highways, predating both NY 74 and VT 74, began operation in 1759 on an informal basis. The ferry operation was formalized at the close of the 18th century and upgraded to a cable system in 1946.

Due to extensive changes in designations in both states during the 20th century, the entire length of the present highway consists of renamed segments from other highways. The New York portion of the cross-state Route 74 west of Ticonderoga was designated as part of NY 73 in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, while the Vermont section carried several different designations from the 1920s to the late 1930s, when it became solely part of Vermont Route F-9. NY 73 was extended east to Lake Champlain in the 1950s—replacing New York State Route 347—and VT F-9 was split into VT 73 and VT 74 shortly afterward. The Schroon–Ticonderoga highway was redesignated as NY 74 on July 1, 1972 after NY 73 was cut back to its current eastern terminus in Elizabethtown.

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