Roads in Hartford to change hands, names

By Dan King

“Old-timers” in Hartford will soon have to adjust to some street name changes in the town.

The town of Hartford is currently in talks with Washington County to change road jurisdiction of two roads within Hartford. County Route 23 will become a town road and Shine Hill Road will go over to the county.

County Route 23 will be renamed “Main Street” when the switch takes place, but the discussion over the renaming of Shine Hill Road is ongoing.

Town Supervisor Dana Haff said that the county had proposed changing Shine Hill Road to County Route 79. However, Haff noted that most of the County Routes that fall in the 70s are located in the far-Southern part of the county and he hopes to keep the number of the road similar to those in the greater Hartford area.

He said that when looking for directions to county Route 79, one might assume that it falls in the town of Easton or Jackson, because of the other county routes in the 70s.

“Not all of the numbers are taken,” Haff said. “Nineteen isn’t taken and (Shine Hill Road) is kind of close to county Routes 17 and 18. The numbers get larger as you go south, so I think naming it county Route 19 would make the most sense.”

The Town Board passed a motion to request the county to rename Shine Hill Road as county Route 19 instead of county Route 79.

Greg Brown, the town’s highway superintendent said that he will have the department put signs up on both of the streets that are changing names, and that those signs will depict both the old name and new naming. He noted similar practices on roads such as Burgoyne Avenue and Notre Dame Street in the Kingsbury/Hudson Falls area.

Town officials were supportive of that idea, in order to avoid confusing “old-timers.”

“The sign will say ‘Hartford Main Street, old county route 23,’” Brown explained.

He added: “Every one of the county routes has a number, but it also has a name associated with it. This way it still retains the name Shine Hill Road.”

The county will need to approve this proposal, but Haff was optimistic that would happen.

“I don’t see why my fellow supervisors would care one way or another,” he said.