A bypass for NY 17 in the Elmira area was built in the 1950s. The first section from Horseheads south to the eastern fringe of downtown Elmira was completed in the mid-1950s, resulting in a short eastern extension of NY 17E to the east side of Newtown Creek (exit 56). The second half of the bypass, from East Corning eastward to Horseheads, was open by 1958, and NY 17's original alignment from East Corning (exit 48) to Big Flats became a western extension of NY 17E. In October 1966, under pressure from locals to eliminate confusion between NY 17 east and NY 17E, the latter was renumbered to NY 352.