New York State Route 179

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This article is about the current alignment of NY 179. For the alignment of NY 179 that existed from 1930 to the 1960s, see New York State Route 180.
NY Route 179
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length: 4.40 mi[1] (7.08 km)
Formed: 1960s[2][3]
West end: NY 5 in Blasdell
Major
junctions:		 I-90 / Thruway in Blasdell
US 219 in Orchard Park
East end: US 20 in Orchard Park
Counties: Erie
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 178 NY 180 >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 179 is a short but busy state highway located south of Buffalo in Erie County, New York. It is a four-lane divided road (albeit with traffic lights) for most of its length. It is known as Mile Strip Road. A small section between US 62 and NY 5 in Blasdell, however, is a limited-access highway known as the Mile Strip Expressway.

It has interchanges with two major expressways, the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) and the Springville Expressway (US 219). It serves as a connector road between them and three other major routes, New York State Route 5, U.S. Route 62, and U.S. Route 20. Thus it is very busy not only at rush hours but also after Buffalo Bills' home football games, due to its proximity to Ralph Wilson Stadium.

NY 179 is the only state highway that intersects with all three U.S. routes (20, 62 and 219) in the Buffalo area.

Contents

[edit] Route description

Route 179 begins at an intersection with NY 5 right alongside Lake Erie, near the huge Ford stamping plant. It heads straight east as the Mile Strip Expressway, passing to the south of Blasdell, with the only interruption in the alignment coming at the junction with South Park Avenue (US 62), where the road changes to an at-grade divided highway. East of town, NY 179 reaches the Thruway at NY 179's midpoint.

Past the Thruway, with Ralph Wilson Stadium looming to the south, NY 179 soon reaches its second controlled-access route at the offramps and overpass that mark the US 219 junction. It is a short distance from there to the light at US 20 in Orchard Park, where 179 ends. Mile Strip Road, however, continues for a considerable distance eastward to County Route 377, just east of Transit Road, itself at that point the rather short New York State Route 187.

[edit] History

The Mile Strip Expressway, a 1 mile (1.6 km) long highway extending from NY 5 to U.S. Route 62, was constructed in the early-to-mid-1960s[4] and designated as NY 179 by 1970.[3] A short continuation of the expressway east of US 62 providing direct access to New York State Thruway exit 56 was opened to traffic as an extension of NY 179 by 1989. The junction between the expressway and Mile Strip Road was initially a four-way intersection, with Mile Strip Road passing east-west through the intersection and NY 179 entering from the south to connect to Thruway exit 56 to the north.[5]

CR 460 (1980s[citation needed]-present)
CR 460 (1980s[citation needed]-present)

The entirety of Mile Strip Road east of US 62 was initially maintained by Erie County as County Route 460.[5] By 2001, the junction between NY 179, Mile Strip Road, and the Thruway was reconfigured into its current design and NY 179 was extended east to its current terminus at U.S. Route 20.[6] CR 460 was then truncated to US 20 on its western end, transferring maintenance of Mile Strip Road from the Thruway to US 20 to the New York State Department of Transportation.[7][8]

The Mile Strip Expressway was to be part of an outer loop connecting Buffalo and Niagara Falls. This plan was ultimately cancelled. The only two portions of the outer loop that were constructed are the LaSalle Expressway east of Niagara Falls and the mile-long Mile Strip Expressway.[9]

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Erie Blasdell 0.00 NY 5
1.14 US 62
1.33 I-90 / Thruway Exit 56 (I-90/Thruway)
Town of Orchard Park 3.68 US 219 Cloverleaf interchange
4.40 US 20

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b 2006 Traffic Data Report for New York State (PDF) p. 248. New York State Department of Transportation (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  2. ^ Sinclair. New York and Metropolitan New York [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. (1964)
  3. ^ a b State of New York Department of Transportation (1970-01-01). Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  4. ^ National Bridge Inventory, a database compiled by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, available at www.nationalbridges.com. Accessed 2008-04-18.
  5. ^ a b New York State Department of Transportation. Buffalo Southeast Quadrangle - New York - Erie Co. [map]. (1989) Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  6. ^ National Geographic Society. Road Atlas - United States-Canada-Mexico [map]. Cartography by Mapquest. (2001) ISBN 1-57262-547-3. Page 76, Buffalo-Niagara Falls inset.
  7. ^ Erie County Highway Pavement Condition Assessment Report p. 45. Erie County Department of Public Works (October 2001). Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  8. ^ New York State Legislature. Highway Law - Article 12, Section 341. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  9. ^ Interstate 890 (2003-01-26). Retrieved on 2008-04-18.

[edit] External links