LaSalle Expressway

LaSalle Expressway

Map of the Niagara Region with the LaSalle Expressway highlighted in red
Route information
Length: 2.62 mi[3] (4.22 km)
Existed: Early 1970s[1][2] – present
Major junctions
West end: I-190 in Niagara Falls
East end: Williams Road in Wheatfield
Location
Counties: Niagara
Highway system

Numbered highways in New York
Interstate • U.S. • N.Y. (former) • Reference • County

The LaSalle Expressway (also known as the LaSalle Arterial) is a 2.62-mile (4.22 km) long limited-access highway in Niagara County, New York, United States. It begins near the North Grand Island Bridge at an interchange with Interstate 190 in Niagara Falls and ends just south of the Niagara Falls International Airport at Williams Road in Wheatfield. The LaSalle Expressway is part of New York State Route 951A, an unsigned reference route; the other, 0.42-mile (0.68 km) long portion is located along Niagara Street between the Rainbow Bridge and Fifth Street in downtown Niagara Falls. Most of this portion, which is not connected to the LaSalle Expressway, is also part of the signed NY 384.

There are two lanes in each direction of the expressway, separated by a grassy median strip. Currently, only three exits exist on the expressway; however, the LaSalle was originally proposed as part of an Outer Belt expressway for the Buffalo – Niagara Falls area, stretching from the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls south to Blasdell. The Milestrip Expressway (part of NY 179) in Blasdell and the LaSalle Expressway are the only portions of the Loop that were constructed. The LaSalle Expressway was built in the 1960s and opened to traffic by 1971.

Near its current eastern terminus, the LaSalle Expressway passes directly south of the Love Canal neighborhood.

Contents

History

The right-of-way of the built portion of the LaSalle Expressway was once occupied by the International Railway Company's Buffalo-Niagara Falls High Speed Line, an interurban/rapid transit line that once connected Buffalo with North Tonawanda and Niagara Falls. The High Speed Line was abandoned in 1937.

Construction on the LaSalle Expressway began in the mid-1960s[1][4] and was completed by 1971. It was originally intended to be part of a limited-access Outer Belt expressway around Buffalo between Blasdell and downtown Niagara Falls. The LaSalle Expressway portion of the belt would have extended from the Rainbow Bridge to U.S. Route 62 in North Tonawanda.[2] Its proposed routing between the Rainbow Bridge and Interstate 190, which would have run north of NY 384 on a parallel routing, had been marked on maps as early as the 1950s.[5][6]

The construction of the LaSalle Expressway indirectly contributed to the Love Canal disaster. When the freeway was built along the southern edge of the neighborhood in the 1960s, it prevented the contaminated groundwater inside the former canal from escaping into the Niagara River. The trapped toxic water was then brought to the surface after the water table rose substantially following a 1977 blizzard.[7]

Ultimately, none of the proposed expressway west of I-190 nor east of Williams Road was built. A 0.42-mile (0.68 km) long portion of the LaSalle's proposed right-of-way in downtown Niagara Falls along Niagara Street is designated as part of NY 951A, the New York State Department of Transportation's unsigned reference route designation for the LaSalle Expressway. The western portion of NY 951A extends from the Rainbow Bridge to the junction of Niagara and Fifth Streets.[3][8] In 2007, all of the western portion of NY 951A east of Rainbow Boulevard became co-designated with the signed NY 384, which had been rerouted through the city.[9][10] However, NY 951A's western segment still continues to Fifth Street as of 2008.[3]

The LaSalle Expressway is one of only two portions of the proposed Outer Loop that were constructed. The other is the Milestrip Expressway, part of NY 179, in Blasdell.[2] In late 2011, it was announced that there was a plan underway to possibly extend the LaSalle past its western terminus at I-190.[11]

Exit list

The entire route is in Niagara County. All exits are unnumbered.

Location Mile[3] Exit Destinations Notes
Niagara Falls 0.00 I-190 – Buffalo, Lewiston Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
0.27 To Robert Moses Parkway Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; spur connecting to Robert Moses Parkway
0.74 77th Street
1.50 NY 384 (Buffalo Avenue) Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Wheatfield 2.62 NY 265 / NY 384 via Williams Road (NY 952V) Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Esso (1968). New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting (1969–70 ed.). 
  2. ^ a b c City of Niagara Falls (1971). Regional Highway Plan for Buffalo and Niagara Falls (Map). http://www.gribblenation.net/nypics/planned/buffalo/buffalo.jpg. Retrieved April 10, 2009. 
  3. ^ a b c d "2007 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. July 25, 2008. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_Traffic_Data_Report_2007.pdf. Retrieved April 10, 2009. 
  4. ^ Sinclair (1964). New York and Metropolitan New York (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. 
  5. ^ Sunoco (1952). New York (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. 
  6. ^ Esso (1954). New York with Special Maps of Putnam–Rockland–Westchester Counties and Finger Lakes Region (Map). Cartography by General Drafting (1955–56 ed.). 
  7. ^ Michelmore, Bill; Bonfatti, John F. (August 1, 2008). "Lois Gibbs returns to Love Canal, calls state's health study a 'whitewash'". The Buffalo News. 
  8. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (1996). Niagara Falls Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=p6. Retrieved April 10, 2009.  The internal state highway designation for the Niagara Street segment of NY 951A is SH LSA74001. The "LSA" stands for "LaSalle Arterial"
  9. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (October 2004) (PDF). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Bicycle Routes in New York State. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/tour_route_0.pdf. Retrieved April 9, 2009. 
  10. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (October 2007). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State. 
  11. ^ "Eyes on intersection after deadly crash". WIVB. http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/niagara/eyes-on-intersection-after-deadly-crash. Retrieved 9 December 2011. 

External links