New York State Route 20SY

NY 20SY began at an intersection with US 20 (East Genesee Street) and NY 321 (State Street) in the village of Skaneateles. The route proceeded northward, overlapping NY 321 through the lakeside village and into the surrounding town of Skaneateles, where it became State Street Road. Once in Skaneateles, the surroundings became mostly rural ahead of an intersection with the Old Seneca Turnpike. The highway continued on, turning to the northeast as the highway entered the town of Elbridge.[4][5]

The former northern terminus of NY 174 and NY 321 at NY 5 and NY 20SY in Camillus as it appeared in 2008

In Elbridge, NY 20SY and NY 321 followed a more east–west routing as it passed through the town and intersected NY 368. The route progressed eastward, intersecting with Limeledge Road (County Route 236A or CR 236A) as it passed into the town of Camillus. Just east of the town line, NY 20SY and NY 321 split at an intersection with Forward Road, with NY 321 following Forward Road eastward and NY 20SY proceeding north on modern NY 321 to an intersection with NY 5 (West Genesee Street). NY 20SY turned eastward here, joining NY 5 as both highways headed toward the village of Camillus.[4][5]

West of Camillus, NY 5 and NY 20SY passed to the north of the West Hill Golf and Croquet Club before veering to the southeast as the highway approached the village of Camillus and the edge of a valley surrounding Ninemile Creek that contains the village. Upon reaching the lip of the valley, NY 5 and NY 20SY descended northeastward into both the valley and the village. Here, NY 5 and NY 20SY met the northern terminus of NY 174 and NY 321 before exiting the valley and entering an area of Camillus known as Fairmount.[4][5]

Routes 5 and 20SY proceeded eastward through the primarily residential neighborhood of Fairmount to an intersection with NY 173 (South Onondaga Road) in eastern Fairmount. The routes continued on, passing through the town of Geddes before entering the city of Syracuse. In Syracuse, the two routes followed West Genesee Street and West Erie Boulevard into the downtown district, where NY 5 and NY 20SY intersected NY 48 at the intersection of West Erie Boulevard and West Genesee Street and US 11 at the junction of Erie Boulevard and State Street.[4][5]

Signage along the NY 92 / NY 173 overlap in Manlius. This overlap included NY 20N and NY 20SY during the 1950s and early 1960s

East of State, NY 20SY continued to follow NY 5 through the eastern part of Syracuse. The two routes met the southern terminus of NY 433 at Midler Avenue before passing north of LeMoyne College and exiting the city of Syracuse. Upon crossing into the town of DeWitt, Routes 5 and 20SY curved southward toward the hamlet of DeWitt, situated at the junction of NY 5 and NY 92.[4][5] Both NY 5 and NY 20SY turned east onto NY 92, joining the route for just over 1 mile (1.6 km) to the vicinity of Fayetteville. While NY 5 and NY 92 continued east into Fayetteville, NY 20SY turned southeast onto High Bridge Road.[5][6]

The High Bridge Road portion of NY 20SY largely served as a southwestern bypass of Fayetteville. NY 20SY proceeded southeast from NY 5 and NY 92, crossing into the town of Manlius and passing over Limestone Creek at a point known as High Bridge. Just northwest of the village of Manlius, NY 20SY intersected NY 92 at what is now the junction of NY 92 and NY 257.[5][6] The two routes converged once more, following Fayette Street into the village of Manlius. In the village center, NY 20SY and NY 92 intersected Seneca Street, which carried the overlapping routes of NY 20N and NY 173. NY 20SY and NY 92 joined NY 20N and NY 173 here, creating a four-route overlap that lasted for two blocks through the village's business district to the junction of Washington and Seneca Streets. Here, NY 173 split from the overlap, following Seneca Street (the old Seneca Turnpike) eastward while the other three highways veered southeast onto Washington Street.[4][5]

The eastern terminus of NY 92 in Cazenovia. This also served as the eastern terminus of NY 20SY and NY 20N

NY 20N, NY 20SY, and NY 92 exited the village, paralleling Limestone Creek as the highway headed southeastward through rural portions of the towns of Manlius and Pompey. As Cazenovia Road, the route served Buellville and Oran, two small creekside hamlets in the town of Pompey. Roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Manlius, Limestone Creek and the three-route overlap split, with the creek proceeding south through a valley known as Pompey Hollow and the highway continuing into Madison County and the town of Cazenovia within.[4][5]

In Cazenovia, the road became known as Syracuse Road and began to follow a more southerly alignment as it turned ahead of Cazenovia Lake. NY 20N, NY 20SY, and NY 92 gradually approached the lake and ultimately followed the western lakeshore as the roadway approached the village of Cazenovia. The three routes never actually reached the village, however, as all three designations ended at an intersection with US 20 (the Cherry Valley Turnpike) 0.25 miles (0.40 km) west of the village limits and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the village center.[4][5]