Construction of Southern Boulevard was authorized by the state in Chapter 295 of the Laws of 1913 as a 1 miles highway starting in the city at Delaware Avenue through what was then part of Bethlehem, over the Normans Kill gorge and meeting the Albany-Bethlehem Turnpike (also referred to as the Bethlehem or Stone Road) at what is today the intersection of Corning Hill Road and US Route 9W. An original proposal for the route of the highway was down Van Vechten Street between Delaware and McCarty avenues.