Old roads

The village of Marcellus was first settled in 1794 at the intersection of two transportation routes: an old Iroquois trail running east–west (later to become the Seneca Turnpike) and the north–south Nine Mile Creek.^[9] At the beginning of the 19th century, land travel along the Nine Mile Creek was very difficult and most travel between Marcellus and the settlements along Onondaga Lake was by water.^[9] In 1831 the New York State Legislature authorized the construction of a road to follow Nine Mile Creek from Marcellus towards the town of Salina at Onondaga Lake.^[10]

In 1855, the road from Marcellus to Camillus along the Nine Mile Creek route was improved by the Camillus and Marcellus Plank Road Company, which was first chartered in 1849, and in 1853 were authorized to collect tolls from travelers using the road.^[11] The improvement of the road led to it becoming a stagecoach route in the middle of the 19th century.^[12] The former plank road alignment in the village of Marcellus (North Street) and the southward continuation along Cherry Street (now South Street) was paved in 1911 as part of the construction of a new state highway that would pass through the town.^[13][14]

Designation

The route from Marcellus (at US 20) to Camillus was designated as NY 174 in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.^[2] At the time, the segment of modern NY 174 from Otisco Valley Road (south of US 20) to Borodino was designated as NY 337 while NY 174 followed Otisco Valley and Oak Hill Roads southeast to an intersection with NY 80 in Otisco.^[15] NY 174 was truncated northwestward c. 1932 to begin at US 20 south of Marcellus. The portion of its former routing between US 20 and NY 337 became a northward extension of NY 337.^[16][17] This change was short-lived as NY 337 was supplanted by an extended NY 174 by the following year.^[18] The northernmost portion of NY 174 from Forward Road to NY 5 in Camillus village was originally designated as part of NY 26 in 1924. The route began in Ithaca and ended in Syracuse.^[19][20] The portion of NY 26 between the villages of Skaneateles and Camillus became NY 321 as part of the 1930 renumbering, resulting in an overlap with NY 174 from Forward Road to NY 5.^[21] NY 321 has since been relocated to the west on a county road,^[22] and Forward Road is now NY 931F, an unsigned, state-maintained highway known as a reference route.^[23]

NY 20N was designated c. 1938 as a northerly alternate route of US 20 between Skaneateles and Cazenovia. It utilized existing numbered roads, including NY 174 from US 20 in Skaneateles north to Marcellus, where it turned eastward to follow NY 175.^[24][25] The NY 20N designation was removed c. 1962.^[26][27]

NY 174 has also had several minor realignments. After Route 5 was realigned onto a new expressway from Camillus to Fairmount, NY 174 was extended on its northern end to meet the west end of the bypass in Camillus. The new alignment makes a sharp hook west along the former Route 5.^[21][22] NY 174 has also been relocated onto a southeastern bypass around the village of Marcellus that also carries Route 175. Originally, NY 174 and 175 entered the village along South Street. The routes were realigned to the bypass between 1976 and 1989.^[28][29] NY 174 now enters downtown Marcellus using several blocks of the historic Seneca Turnpike between the old and new alignments. This section of the route is maintained by Onondaga County as CR 41. The former South Street alignment has been redesignated as CR 83.^[28][29]

In April 2008, the New York State Senate introduced and passed a bill to rename part of NY 174 as the "Father Joseph Champlin Memorial Highway". This would include the portion of the highway from the Camillus town line to Route 5.^[30][31] Also starting in 2008, the New York State Department of Transportation began a rehabilitation project on NY 174. The Marcellus Falls bridge over Nine Mile Creek, also known as NY 174X, is closed off for a complete rehabilitation and a detour has been placed around it. Construction is reduced to one lane between Main Street and Scotch Hill Road and will continue until June 24, 2008.^[32] On November 21, 2008, the bridge was re-opened and the construction completed.^[33]