New York State Route 18

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NY Route 18
Length: 87.40 mi[1] (140.66 km)
Formed: 1924[2]
West end: NY 104 in Lewiston
Major
junctions:		 Robert Moses Pkwy in Youngstown
NY 78 in Olcott
Lake Ontario Pkwy in Carlton
NY 390 in Greece
East end: NY 104 in Rochester
Counties: Niagara, Orleans, Monroe
Numbered highways in New York
< NY 17M NY 18A >
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

New York State Route 18 is an east-west state route in western New York, running parallel to the south shore of Lake Ontario for most of its length between Niagara County and Monroe County. NY 18, which also crosses Orleans County, acts as a northerly alternate in many ways to NY 104, another east-west route that parallels NY 18 to the south. The western terminus of NY 18 is at NY 104 outside the village of Lewiston. The eastern terminus is at NY 104 in the area of Rochester known as Kodak Park.

Unlike NY 104, NY 18 runs no farther east than Monroe County, though this was not always the case. In previous years, NY 18 extended a considerable distance across New York State, stretching from the Pennsylvania state line to NY 14 in Sodus Point.

NY 18, despite its east-west signage, runs primarily north-south through the western portion of Niagara County. After leaving Niagara County, Route 18 shifts farther south, gradually moving away from the shore of Lake Ontario. The lakeside road then becomes the Lake Ontario State Parkway, which NY 18 meets at the Lakeside Beach State Park in Carlton.

Contents

[edit] Route description

Signage for NY 18 at NY 104 and NY 18F.
Signage for NY 18 at NY 104 and NY 18F.

[edit] Niagara County

Communities

NY 18 begins at NY 104 south of a complex grade-separated interchange that includes NY 18F, NY 104, and the Robert Moses State Parkway on the eastern edge of the village of Lewiston. From NY 104 east, a right-turn ramp allows access to Creek Road Extension, the first street that modern-day NY 18 occupies. NY 104 continues north from the ramp, passing over NY 18 westbound (which terminates at the merge ramp with NY 104 west) and merging with the NY 18/NY 104 onramp from the Robert Moses State Parkway. The two-laned ramp then passes under NY 18F before splitting into two ramps: a northerly ramp that leads back to the Parkway to allow traffic from NY 104 east to access the highway, and a circular ramp that leads to an intersection between the southern terminus of NY 18F and NY 104. NY 104 west, as well as the Robert Moses State Parkway southbound to Niagara Falls, is accessed from this point via a ramp on the west side of the bridge carrying NY 18F/104 over the Parkway and the aforementioned ramp. Signage at the intersection also directs traffic intended for NY 18 to take NY 104 east. A third road present at the intersection, Cayuga Drive, leads directly to NY 18 to the south.

On Creek Road Extension, NY 18 proceeds to the northeast before curving to the north and interchanging with NY 104 east of the NY 18F/NY 104 intersection at an unconventional grade-separated interchange that has a pair of two-way ramps connecting the two state routes. North of the ramps, NY 18 passes under NY 104, and parallels the Robert Moses State Parkway as it proceeds north.

At a wye in the Youngstown hamlet of Blairville, NY 18 breaks from its north-south alignment and turns to the northeast before curving northward once more, returning to a perfect north-south alignment at an intersection with NY 93 in the hamlet of Towers Corners. Southwest of the Four Mile Creek State Park, NY 18 turns a full 90 degrees to the east and begins to parallel the shore of Lake Ontario. Here, NY 18 meets the northern terminus of NY 18F, changes names from Creek Road to Lake Road, as well as intersects the northern end of the Robert Moses State Parkway. East of the park, NY 18 gradually moves to the north, decreasing the area between the route and the lakeshore as it proceeds east.

Now in Wilson and less than 100 yards from the lakeshore, NY 18 meets the northern terminus of NY 425. Farther east, in Olcott, NY 18 intersects the northern extent of NY 78. On the eastern edge of town, the route intersects Transit Road, which runs along the transit line first surveyed by the Holland Land Company. This portion of Transit Road does not meet the NY 78-occupied portion in Lockport, however.

After meeting the northern end of NY 148 in Somerset, NY 18 intersects the northern terminus of NY 269 at the Niagara-Orleans county line.

[edit] Orleans County

Across the county line, NY 18 becomes the Roosevelt Highway. In Yates Center, north of Lyndonville, NY 18 meets the northern terminus of NY 63. Lyndonville Road, which carries NY 63, continues north to the lake as County Route 63.

Near the Lakeside Beach State Park, NY 18 intersects the northern terminus of NY 279, the last in a series of north-south routes that terminate at NY 18. Just east of this intersection, now in the park, is the western terminus of the Lake Ontario State Parkway, the final state-maintained route to end at NY 18.

East of the park, NY 18 breaks from the Lake Ontario shore and curves to the southeast, meeting NY 98 north of Baldwin Corner and forming a concurrency south to Baldwin Corner, where NY 18 continues east. After passing NY 237 south of Kendall, NY 18 forms a concurrency with NY 272 south along the Orleans-Monroe county line to Hamlin Center Road, where NY 18 continues east into Monroe County.

[edit] Monroe County

NY 18 remains Hamlin Center Road until the town of Hamlin, where it meets NY 19 and splits from Hamlin Center Road, becoming Roosevelt Highway once again. The new name lasts for only a short distance, however, as NY 18 merges with Clarkson-Hamlin Town Line Road only a mile southeast of the split with Hamlin Center Road. NY 18 then passes NY 260 before swerving onto West Avenue at the Hamlin-Parma town line.

In Hilton, NY 18 meets NY 259, Lake Avenue, in the center of the village. The two routes overlap for a short distance east along East Avenue before turning south onto Hilton-Parma Corners Road. NY 18 and NY 259 remain concurrent until Parma Center, where NY 18 turns east on Parma Center Road for two miles before turning south onto NY 261, Manitou Road, and forming a small concurrency before returning east on Latta Road.

Now in the Rochester suburb of Greece, NY 18 interchanges with NY 390 at exit 26, the northernmost exit on NY 390 prior to its merging with the Lake Ontario State Parkway to the north. A small distance east of NY 390, NY 18 turns south onto Dewey Avenue, where NY 18 remains as it enters the city of Rochester and terminates at NY 104 in the midst of Kodak Park. The Dewey Avenue section is maintained by Monroe County as CR 132 from Latta Road (where SR 941A terminates and NY 18 turns) to the Rochester city line where it becomes maintained by the city.

[edit] History

Reference marker for NY 18 on Lake Road in Webster. This part of Lake Road is now designated as NY 941L.
Reference marker for NY 18 on Lake Road in Webster. This part of Lake Road is now designated as NY 941L.

NY 18 was signed in 1924[2] and originally went from the Pennsylvania border at Limestone north to Buffalo along what is now U.S. Route 219, NY 417, NY 353 and U.S. Route 62.[3] In the 1930 renumbering, NY 18 was extended northward to Youngstown along pre-1930 New York State Route 34 (now US 62, NY 104, and modern NY 18), then eastward to Rochester along a previously unnumbered alignment (the modern routing of NY 18).[4] The route was later extended eastward via US 104, Culver Road, and Lake Road to NY 250 in Webster by 1938[5] and to NY 14 in Sodus Point by 1947,[6] increasing the length of NY 18 to 231 miles (372 km); 107.5 miles (173.0 km) from Limestone to Niagara Falls, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) from Rochester to Irondequoit Bay, and 29 miles (47 km) from Irondequoit Bay to Sodus Point, as well as 87 miles (140 km) along its current alignment.[7]

[edit] Realignment and truncation

In 1960, NY 18 was rerouted from Culver Road onto present-day NY 590, which parallels Culver between East Ridge Road and the lake shore.[8] During the 1960s, NY 18 was truncated on both extents of the route. The western terminus of NY 18 was moved north to its present location in Lewiston in the early 1960s[9][10] while the eastern terminus was shifted westward along Lake Road to NY 250 north of Webster by 1970.[11]

Between 1965 and 1971, US 104 was moved from East Ridge Road to the Keeler Street Expressway between the Genesee River and modern NY 590, leaving NY 18 as the sole designation along the roadway. Additionally, NY 47, routed along modern NY 590 from I-490 to Empire Boulevard in 1965, was extended north along the entire length of what is now NY 590, creating a two mile overlap NY 18 between Ridge and Culver Roads.[12][13] By 1976, NY 18 was truncated for the final time, placing the eastern terminus at its current location in Kodak Park.[14]

[edit] Redesignations

From the Pennsylvania state line northward to Lewiston, the former routing of NY 18 is now US 219 from Limestone to Salamanca, NY 417 within Salamanca, NY 353 from Salamanca to Dayton, US 62 from Dayton to Niagara Falls and NY 104 from Niagara Falls to Lewiston. East of Kodak Park, what was once NY 18 is now NY 104 from Kodak Park to the eastern bank of the Genesee River, NY 104 Truck along East Ridge Road from the river to North Clinton Avenue, city maintained from North Clinton to the Rochester line, County Route 241 along the remainder of East Ridge Road to NY 590, NY 590 between Ridge and Culver Roads, County Route 120 along Culver Road (including the portion of Culver bypassed by the Sea Breeze Expressway in 1960), and New York State Route 941L (an unsigned reference route) between the Outlet Bridge and NY 250.[15][16] East of NY 250, Lake Road continues to Sodus Point as County Route 1 (in Monroe County) and County Route 101 (in Wayne County).

[edit] Suffixed routes

NY 18 once had six suffixed routes; only one, NY 18F, still exists. Most of the routes were renumbered when NY 18 was truncated to Lewiston in the early 1960s.

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Niagara Village of Lewiston 0.00 NY 104 Interchange
1.00 NY 104
Youngstown 6.99 NY 93
7.75 NY 18F Northern terminus of NY 18F
8.55 Robert Moses State Parkway Northern terminus of Robert Moses Pkwy
Village of Wilson 17.85 NY 425 Northern terminus of NY 425
Olcott 23.71 NY 78 Northern terminus of NY 78
Somerset 31.85 NY 148 Northern terminus of NY 148
Barker 36.39 NY 269 Northern terminus of NY 269; NY 269 runs concurrent to Niagara-Orleans county line.
Orleans Yates 40.28 NY 63 Northern terminus of NY 63
Carlton 47.21 NY 279 Northern terminus of NY 279
48.21 Lake Ontario State Parkway Western terminus of Lake Ontario Pkwy
50.79 NY 98 north Northern terminus of overlap
51.33 NY 98 south Hamlet of Baldwin Corner; southern terminus of overlap
Kendall 59.99 NY 237
62.20 NY 272 north Northern terminus of overlap; Orleans-Monroe county line
63.18 NY 272 south Southern terminus of overlap; Orleans-Monroe county line
Monroe Hamlin 67.12 NY 19
70.15 NY 260
Hilton 73.96 NY 259 north Northern terminus of overlap
Parma 76.05 NY 259 south Hamlet of Parma Center; southern terminus of overlap
78.07 NY 261 north Northern terminus of overlap
78.41 NY 261 south Southern terminus of overlap
Town of Greece 82.61 NY 390 Exit 26 (NY 390)
Rochester 87.40 NY 104

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Traffic Data Report - NY 15 to NY 23 (PDF). NYSDOT (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
  2. ^ a b "New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers", New York Times, 1924-12-21, p. XX9. 
  3. ^ Rand McNally. Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally. (1926) Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
  4. ^ Leon A. Dickinson. "New Signs for State Highways", New York Times, 1930-01-12, p. 136. 
  5. ^ Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book, 1938/39 edition, (W.A. Thibodeau, 1938).
  6. ^ United States Geological Survey. Rochester, NY Quadrangle [map], 1:250,000, Eastern United States 1:250,000. (1947) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  7. ^ Mileage based on the routing shown on the 1947 USGS topographic map and calculated using Microsoft Streets and Trips
  8. ^ National Bridge Inventory, a database compiled by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, available at www.nationalbridges.com. Accessed 2007-08-13.
  9. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways. Official Map of Pennsylvania [map]. (1960) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  10. ^ United States Geological Survey. Buffalo, NY Quadrangle [map], 1:250,000, Eastern United States 1:250,000. (1962) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  11. ^ State of New York Department of Transportation (1970-01-01). Official Description of Touring Routes in New York State. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  12. ^ Rand McNally. New York [map]. Cartography by Rand McNally. (1965)
  13. ^ Humble Oil & Refining Company. New York [map]. Cartography by General Drafting. (1971)
  14. ^ New York State Thruway Authority. New York Thruway [map], 13th edition. Cartography by New York State Thruway Authority. (1976)
  15. ^ New York State Department of Transportation. Rochester East, NY Quadrangle [map]. (1997) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  16. ^ Traffic Data Report - NY 908F to NY 953B (PDF). NYSDOT (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
  17. ^ a b c United States Geological Survey. Buffalo, NY Quadrangle [map], 1:250,000, Eastern United States 1:250,000. (1948) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  18. ^ a b c Shell. Niagara Falls and Vicinity [map]. Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company. (1935) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  19. ^ Cities Service. Buffalo-Niagara Falls - New York-Ontario [map]. Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company. (1960) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  20. ^ White Rose. Niagara Frontier [map]. Cartography by Rolph-Clark-Stone. (1963) Retrieved on 2007-12-05.