Genesee County, New York is located in the north-central region of Western New York.
Genesee County has 14 state-maintained highways (highways maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation), which form a combined 191.6 miles (308.4 km) of the touring routes in New York.[1] Genesee County contains no Reference Routes. Additionally there are Genesee County Routes which are not signed. However, the number is given, along with house numbers, on intersection street signs. There is no apparent numbering pattern in the county. The county routes are maintained by the Genesee County Highway Department. County routes make up 257.9 miles (415.0 km),[1] and with local roads included, there are 1,037.4 miles (1,669.5 km) of centerline highway mileage in Genesee County.[1]
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Genesee County contains two interstate highways; Interstate 90 (New York State Thruway), and Interstate 490, an auxiliary interstate of I-90 to Rochester.
Interstate 90 (NYS Thruway) travels in an east-west direction in Genesee County. For much of I-90's length it parallels the routes of cross-state railroad tracks in Upstate New York. I-90/NYST enters Genesee County from Erie County to the west, and intersects with New York State Route 77 at Exits 48A/B in Pembroke. Eleven miles further east it intersects New York State Route 98 at Exit 48, providing access to Batavia, the Genesee County seat. Interstate 90/NYS Thruway continues east and has one last exit in Genesee County at Exit 47 with I-490/NY 19 in Bergen (NY 19 via I-490). Just after the interchange I-90/NYST enters Monroe County. The Thruway continues east towards Syracuse and Albany, passing south of Rochester.
Interstate 490 begins in the Town of Le Roy at Interstate 90 (New York State Thruway) and from there heads northeast from the Thruway intersecting NY 19 at exit one, just after its start. I-490 continues northeast along the Orleans-Monroe County Line, and exit two is for NY 33/NY 33A for the Town and Village of Bergen. Shortly after, I-490 leaves Genesee County for Monroe and continues toward Rochester.
Genesee County contains one US Route; US 20.
U.S. Route 20 travels east-west through the southern part of the county and is named Broadway. US 20 is a rural two-lane road when it enters Genesee County from Erie to the west. In the Town of Darien, US 20 continues east past Darien Lakes State Park to a junction with NY 77 at Darien Center, where much summertime traffic turns north toward the nearby Darien Lake amusement park.[2] East of the blinker at that junction, traffic often picks up speed as the road expands slightly to offer occasional turning lanes. This section sees many trucks, using US 20 to avoid tolls on the Thruway on their way to points to the south and southeast.
Shortly after there is a junction with NY 238, which forks off to the southeast towards Attica. US 20 begins going straight up and down into the creek valleys here at the northern fringe of the Allegheny Plateau. Passing lanes are sometimes available on the downhill sections, particular in the next community to the east, Alexander, where another route to Attica, NY 98 crosses via an overpass. This allows traffic to continue at a high speed through the surrounding dairy and sod farms up the other side and into Bethany, the next town, whose four four-way intersections offer no traffic control devices to slow down drivers.[3]
This unbroken stretch ends with a new light shortly into the next town, Pavilion, where NY 63 crosses at an angle. Here trucks and other traffic bound for the Southern Tier and further turns right to eventually connect to Interstate 390 at Mount Morris. The four-lane Route 20 straightaway continues across the town, with NY 19 also on an overpass at Pavilion Center. Route 20 then leaves Genesee for Livingston County; the Broadway name also continues as it goes on past the Livingston County line 2.5 miles (4 km) to the east, where it finally drops the Broadway name.
Throughout Genesee County, there are 11 signed state routes:
New York State Route 5 is a busy east-west route that enters Genesee County and the Town of Pembroke from Erie County and the Town of Newstead. It is named Main Street when it enters the county and intersects New York State Route 77 in Pembroke. NY 5 travels through predominantly rural areas until reaching the city of Batavia where it intersects NY 98 and also runs concurrent with NY 63 and NY 33 for a short distance through the city. NY 5 closely parallels the Interstate 90 (New York State Thruway) through much of the county. The road travels eastward, intersecting NY 237 in Stafford and NY 19 in the Village of LeRoy, before leaving Genesee County and entering Livingston County and the Village of Caledonia.
New York State Route 19 enters the county from Wyoming County to the south. Almost immediately after the county line, Route 19 stops at a traffic light with NY 63 in the hamlet of Pavilion. The similarly named but smaller Pavilion Center marks the junction with US 20, 2.3 miles thereafter. NY 19 continues north through the eastern part of the county and intersects the state's other major east-west route, NY 5 in the Village of Le Roy. As Route 19 continues north it descends the Onondaga Escarpment. Shortly afterwards, it crosses the Interstate 90 segment of the New York State Thruway just west of the Interstate 490 exit. While NY 19 is signed for this exit along the NYS Thruway, access to it comes via the first exit on I-490, which is accessed via connector roads as the two highways do not directly intersect. North of the Thruway, New York State Route 19 intersects NY 33 and NY 262 at Bergen. Several miles later, after passing the Bergen Swamp Wildlife Refuge, it crosses the Monroe County line.
New York State Route 33 is a two-laned route named Genesee Street as it enters Genesee County from Erie County to the west. NY 33 intersects with NY 77 in the center of the first community it encounters, the small Village of Corfu. At the Batavia town line, NY 33 becomes Pearl Street, a name it keeps until it reaches NY 98 within the City of Batavia, the Genesee County seat. New York State Route 33 crosses and briefly overlaps not only NY 5, the other east-west route in town, but both north-south routes, NY 63 and NY 98.
To the east of the city, Route 33 splits in a northeast direction from Route 5, becoming Clinton Street, then, once outside the city limits, Clinton Street Road. It passes Genesee Community College, then, continuing its northward slant, crosses under the I-90/NYS Thruway (with no exit). It remains close to the interstate for a few miles, intersecting NY 237 less than a mile north of its overpass, but then leaves it behind for good shortly thereafter as it turns even more to the north. NY 33 enters the small Village of Bergen in the county's northeast corner, where NY 33 crosses the long north-south route NY 19. Shortly after, NY 33 intersects NY 33A's west end near the Monroe County line. NY 33A intersects Interstate 490 just east of here as NY 33A picks up 33's course as the main route. NY 33 turns to the north yet again, now with the name Buffalo Road as it leaves the Genesee County for Monroe County.
New York State Route 33A begins at a three-way intersection with NY 33 in Bergen. From this point, Route 33 travels to the west and to the northeast while NY 33A heads east. Less than a quarter of a mile from its western terminus, Route 33A interchanges with Interstate 490 at exit 2, which is located on the Genesee-Monroe county line. While the expressway and the western on-ramps are located in Genesee County, the eastern ramps are situated in the Monroe County Town of Churchville.
Route 33A passes into Monroe County immediately after passing over I-490 eastbound. Only about three-tenths of a mile of NY 33A are located in Genesee County, as much of the route rests in Monroe County.
New York State Route 63 enters Genesee County from the southeast. NY 63 has become a major shortcut for traffic heading to the Buffalo area, despite remaining a two-lane road through open rural country because the route both physically shorter than going all the way to the New York State Thruway as well as toll-free. After just entering the county, Route 63 intersects the northern end of NY 246, and still continues northwest towards Batavia. A mile past that intersection, NY 63 drops down slightly to intersect with NY 19 at Pavilion. After the traffic light at the center of the hamlet, NY 63 crosses Oatka Creek and climbs back up out of the Wyoming Valley. The roadway narrows again and continues due northwest to its next junction, the underdeveloped crossing of US 20. Here some Buffalo-bound traffic will turn west. NY 63 acquires the name Ellicott Street when it finally enters Batavia, where it intersects the two major east-west trunk routes in this corridor, NY 5 and NY 33, as well as north-south NY 98, which takes traffic to the Thruway.
Past Batavia, New York State Route 63 itself crosses the Thruway without an exit. It continues northwestward as Lewiston Road to the village of Oakfield, where NY 262 has its western terminus. Finally, just north of Oakfield, NY 63 turns due west on Judge Road and follows it several miles to NY 77, which it joins traveling north of Basom, a hamlet in the Town of Alabama.[4] At Alabama, NY 77 turns to the west to head to Lockport and NY 63 continues northwards, across the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and into Orleans County, toward Medina and north to its end on the south shore of Lake Ontario at NY 18.
New York State Route 77 enters Genesee County from Wyoming County from the south. NY 77 intersects busy US 20 at the hamlet of Darien, just north lies Darien Lake amusement park to the east of the highway. The road, however, remains a two-lane blacktop as it continues north past the village of Corfu, where it intersects NY 33 and, several miles further on, Brick House Corners, the intersection with NY 5.
Just beyond that junction the truck stops and toll plaza associated with the Thruway (Interstate 90) exit 48A are visible as the road dips slightly, then makes its first major bend to cross over the Thruway. Past the Thruway, it once again continues ahead due north to where it crosses the Tonawanda Creek north of the hamlet of Indian Falls. The falls themselves are visible from the road. North of the falls, the land once again becomes mostly fields, although some are dmarked with signage for the nearby Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. At the small hamlet of Basom, NY 63 comes in from the east, starting the only concurrency along Route 77.
The concurrency ends at Alabama, several miles further north, where NY 77 turns to the west as NY 63 takes over the northbound route. NY 77 from NY 63 to the Niagara County Line is maintained by Genesee County as CR 12 (Lewiston Road), though CR 12 continues east of NY 63/77 along Lewiston, Lockport and North Byron Roads to CR 7 (Barrville/North Bergen Roads) northeast of the village of Elba.
New York State Route 98 enters Genesee County from Wyoming from the south. In the Town of Alexander, NY 98 becomes Alexander Road and interchanges with U.S. Route 20 in the Village of Alexander. The Alexander Road name remains through Alexander, past the CSX Transportation Rochester Subdivision in the town of Batavia (which NY 98 passes under), and up to the Batavia city limits, where it becomes Walnut Street. Within the city, NY 98 crosses the Depew, Lancaster and Western Railroad at-grade before curving onto South Main Street and intersecting NY 33. The two routes join on Oak Street for one block to cross over Tonawanda Creek. On the opposite bank, NY 33 separates from NY 98 at an intersection with NY 5 and NY 63. NY 98, however, continues north through the city on Oak Street to the northern city limits, where it interchanges with the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) south of the Genesee County Airport.
To the north of Batavia in Elba, NY 98 overlaps NY 262 through the southern edge of the village before continuing through the village and into the Town of Elba. Shortly thereafter, NY 98 crosses county lines by entering the Orleans County and the Town of Barre.
New York State Route 237 begins its southern end at NY 5 in the Town of Staffordd. NY 237 heads north to Morganville, where the route takes on a northeast alignment for a brief distance before resuming a northerly alignment south of the New York State Thruway (I-90). NY 237 then crosses over the Thruway and meets NY 33, which parallels the Thruway along this stretch. The route continues north through South Byron, passing under the CSX Rochester Subdivision here, before approaching Byron. In the town center, NY 237 meets NY 262. Route 237 continues north through the hamlet of Pumpkin Hill before crossing into Orleans County.
New York State Route 238 continues in its northwest direction into the Town of Alexander from the Village of Attica. NY 238 then heads into the Town of Darien. It closely follows Norfolk Southern Railway's Buffalo Line through this area, and is mirrored by Genesee CR 45 on the opposite side of the tracks, which terminates at NY 238 on both its west and east termini. After Genesee CR 45's western terminus, NY 238 turns more northward again, entering a residential area and terminating at US 20 in Darien.
New York State Route 246 named Perry Road has a length of less than a tenth of a mile in the county. It lies primarily within Wyoming County, but just crosses into Genesee County to have its north end at New York State Route 63 in the Town of Pavilion.
New York State Route 262 is entirely located within Genesee County. NY 262 begins in the Village of Oakfield at New York State Route 63 and is named Drake Street. NY 262 heads east to the Village of Elba where it intersects NY 98 and turns south and has a brief concurrency until it turns east again as Ford Road. As NY 262 continues east and its name changes to Byron-Elba Road until it intersects north-south New York State Route 237 in Byron. After the intersection NY 262 is named Townline Road for the rest of its 6 mile length to its east end at New York State Route 19 in the Village of Bergen.
Former routes in Genesee County include NY 35, NY 62, NY 77A, and the more recently decommissioned route NY 267.
New York State Route 35 was assigned to the present alignment of U.S. Route 20. When U.S. Highways were first signed in New York in 1927, the portion of NY 35 between East Aurora and Geneseo became part of US 20 (Present day US 20A). NY 35 was then shifted northward onto what is now US 20 between Buffalo and Avon as part of the assignment of US 20.[5]
US 20 was rerouted to follow its current alignment between Hamburg and Avon in the late 1930s, replacing NY 35.[6][7] The former routing of US 20 from Hamburg to Geneseo, as well as NY 254 from Livonia to East Bloomfield, became US 20A. US 20A also extended a short distance northward on NY 64 to meet US 20 and NY 5, completing the alternate loop of US 20.[7]
New York State Route 62 was originally designated by 1926 to present day NY 19 between Belvidere and Pavilion, as well as current NY 63 from Pavilion to Lake Ontario.[8] The remainder of current day NY 19 from Wellsville south to Pennsylvania, as well as from Pavilion north to Lake Ontario, was unnumbered until the 1930 renumbering.[9]
In the 1930 renumbering, NY 19 was assigned to former NY 62 from Belvidere to Lake Ontario. North of Pavilion, present day NY 19 became NY 63.[9] NY 19 also continued south of Wellsville to its present terminus at the Pennsylvania state line.[10]
By 1938, the routings of NY 19 and NY 63 were swapped north of Pavilion, placing both routes on their current alignment.[7]
New York State Route 77A was assigned to the routing of Bloomingdale Road in the Town of Alabama between 1930's to 1942. NY 77A ran from NY 267 at the Erie County Line east to NY 77 in Basom. By 1942, the designation of NY 77A was removed and the NY 267 designation was continued east over NY 77A to end at New York State Route 77 in Basom.[11]
New York State Route 267 was assigned to the routing of Bloomingdale Road in the Town of Alabama by 1942. NY 267 began at NY 93 in the Village of Akron in nearby Erie County to the west. NY 267 ended at New York State Route 77 in the hamlet of Basom. The NY 267 designation was removed on August 14, 1980.[12]
Most of the county routes serve as connections between major routes in the county. The Genesee County Highway Department is responsible for maintaining over 257 miles (414 km) of county roads, 380 bridges and culverts, the Genesee County Airport and the Genesee County Parks, Recreation and Forestry Division.[13] Genesee County routes are not signed, but the number is given, along with house numbers, on intersection blade signs. County routes are generally composed of one or more named roads, and or portions thereof, strung together to form a single continuous unit. These usually extend for some distance, connecting primary highways in two or more Towns. The majority of the County's roads are assigned to the Towns.[14]
The chart below shows current interstate, U.S., and state highways by year of creation, length, and the cities, towns, and villages crossed.
| Route Number | Year created | Length within Genesee County | Cities, Towns, Villages Crossed |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-90/ NYS Thruway |
1957, (1950's NYS Thruway) | 29.13 miles (46.88 km)[15] | Pembroke, Batavia (town), Batavia (city), Stafford, LeRoy (town) |
| I-490 | 1974[16] | 4.09 miles (6.58 km)[15] | LeRoy, Bergen |
| US 20 | 1926[16] | 27.02 miles (43.48 km)[15] | Darien, Alexander (town), Alexander (village), Bethany, Pavilion |
| NY 5 | 1930[9] | 28.61 miles (46.04 km)[15] | Pembroke, Batavia (town), Batavia (city), Stafford, LeRoy (town), LeRoy (village) |
| NY 19 | 1930[9] | 19.90 miles (32.03 km)[15] | Pavilion, LeRoy (town), LeRoy (village), Bergen (town), Bergen (village) |
| NY 33 | 1920's[17] | 30.35 miles (48.84 km)[15] | Darien, Pembroke, Corfu (village), Batavia (town), Batavia (city), Stafford, Byron, Bergen (town) |
| NY 33A | By 1938[7] | 0.28 miles (0.45 km)[15] | Bergen (village), Bergen (town) |
| NY 63 | 1930[9] | 29.64 miles (47.70 km)[15] | Alabama, Oakfield (town), Oakfield (village), Batavia (town), Batavia (city), Stafford, Bethany, Pavilion |
| NY 77 | 1930[10] | 20.54 miles (33.06 km)[15] | Darien, Corfu (village), Pembroke, Alabama |
| NY 98 | 1930[9] | 19.94 miles (32.09 km)[15] | Elba (town), Elba (village), Batavia (town), Batavia (city), Alexander (town), Alexander (village), Attica (village) |
| NY 237 | 1930[10] | 10.69 miles (17.20 km)[15] | Stafford, Byron |
| NY 238 | 3.98 miles (6.41 km)[15] | Alexander (town), Darien | |
| NY 246 | 0.09 miles (0.14 km)[15] | Pavilion | |
| NY 262 | 10.44 miles (16.80 km)[18] | Oakfield (village), Oakfield (town), Elba (town), Elba (village), Byron, Bergen (town), Bergen (village) | |
| Former state touring routes | |||
| NY 35 | 1920's[19] - 1938[7] | 27.02 miles (43.48 km)[15] | Darien, Alexander (town), Alexander (village), Bethany, Pavilion |
| NY 62 | 1920's[9] -1930.[8] | 28.44 miles (45.77 km)[15] | Alabama, Oakfield (town), Oakfield (village), Batavia (town), Batavia (city), Stafford, Bethany, Pavilion |
| NY 77A | 1930's - 1942[11] | 4.80 miles (7.72 km)[15] | Alabama |
| NY 267 | 1942 - August 14, 1980[12] (1930's Erie County) |
4.80 miles (7.72 km)[15] | Alabama |
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