New York State Route 198 (NY 198) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

located entirely within the city of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is named the Scajaquada Expressway for

Scajaquada Creek Scajaquada Creek ( ) is a stream in Erie County, New York, United States. The name is derived from Philip Kenjockety, a Native American described as the oldest resident of the region upon his death in 1808. The creek lends its name to the Scaj ...

, which it covers over as it heads across northern Buffalo. NY 198 connects the

Niagara Thruway Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River * Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff o ...

( Interstate 190 or I-190) in the Black Rock neighborhood to the Kensington Expressway ( NY 33) on Buffalo's east side, dividing the city's premier public park in half.

Route description

NY 198 begins at exit 11, a semi-directional T-interchange, of

I-190 Interstate 190 may refer to the following Interstate Highways in the United States related to Interstate 90: * Interstate 190 (Illinois), a spur into Chicago's O'Hare International Airport *Interstate 190 (Massachusetts), a spur from Worcester to Le ...

in the Black Rock section in the city of Buffalo, alongside the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...

. NY 198 proceeds northeastward as the Scajaquada Expressway, a four-lane expressway through Buffalo. Just after the interchange, the route crosses over NY 266 (Niagara Street) and westbound serves an interchange with NY 266 and NY 265. NY 198 winds northeast into the West Side of Buffalo, approaching the campus of

Buffalo State College The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of New ...

as it enters an interchange with Grant Street, accessible from both directions. At this interchange, NY 198 bends eastward along the northern edge of campus, passing Coyer Field, Moore Complex, and several residence halls as it bends southeast alongside the campus. Now in the

Elmwood Village Elmwood Village is a neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. Geography Elmwood Village is in the central part of Buffalo. The neighborhood is located along Elmwood Avenue. The neighborhood is bordered on the south by the Allentown, Buffalo, New York ...

section of Buffalo, NY 198 bends eastward once again and provides a four-way interchange with access to Elmwood Avenue and the nearby

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

and

Buffalo History Museum The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue and ...

. After the interchange, NY 198 enters Delaware Park, passes Hoyt Lake, then encounters a four-way interchange with NY 384 (Delaware Avenue). After NY 384, NY 198 bends southeast, passing north of Forest Lawn Cemetery and south of Delaware Park Golf Course and the

Buffalo Zoo Buffalo Zoo is a zoo was located at 300 Parkside Ave in Buffalo, New York, is the seventh oldest zoo in the United States. Each year, the Buffalo Zoo welcomes approximately 400,000 visitors and is the second largest tourist attraction in Western N ...

. After entering an at-grade intersection with Parkside Avenue, NY 198 leaves Delaware Park and returns to a four-lane divided highway. After the conversion, NY 198 interchanges with NY 5 (Main Street) just north of the Humboldt-Hospital station of Buffalo's Metro Rail. The expressway crosses under Kensington Avenue and continues southeast, entering the Masten section of Buffalo. There, NY 198 enters an interchange, merging, in both directions, with NY 33 (the Kensington Expressway). This merge marks the eastern terminus of the NY 198 designation.

History

The modern NY 198 corridor was originally served by Scajaquada Drive and Humboldt Parkway, two surface streets that linked Delaware Park to Humboldt Park (now

Martin Luther King, Jr. Park :''There is also a Martin Luther King, Jr., Park in Oberlin, Ohio.'' Martin Luther King Jr. Park, originally The Parade and after 1896, Humboldt Park, is a historic park located in Buffalo in Erie County, New York. The park is located in east Bu ...

). Scajaquada Drive began at Grant Street and went eastward through Delaware Park to Agassiz Circle. Here, it met Humboldt Parkway, which ran from NY 384 in Delaware Park to Fillmore Avenue at Humboldt Park by way of the modern Scajaquada and Kensington Expressway corridors. Construction of the Scajaquada Expressway began in the early 1960s. The first section of the freeway extended from Grant Street to Delaware Avenue and was completed by 1961. An extension west to the

opened in 1962, at which time all of the expressway was designated as NY 198. The portion of Humboldt Parkway between Delaware Avenue and the Kensington Expressway was upgraded into a

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

in the mid-1960s, at which time it became part of NY 198. NY 198-Maksym memorial

The Scajaquada Corridor Coalition, which includes Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Vision Niagara, Restore Our Community Coalition, SUNY Buffalo State, GObike Buffalo and the Grant Amherst Business Association, would like to restore parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted a century ago, and have proposed that the highway be downgraded to a pedestrian-friendly roadway more in harmony with the surrounding communities. The

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, Rail transport, railroads, mass transit systems ...

is investigating eight possible plans for the expressway based on suggestions by community groups over the last fifteen years. In September 2015, they published studies on how these plans would affect traffic in the surrounding neighborhoods. These plans are currently estimated to cost around $150 million. According to the state, there are environmental and economic studies, as required by federal law, currently underway on all eight plans which should be concluded in 2016 at which point public hearings will be held to determine the fate of the corridor. Due to a fatal accident when a car driven by 28-year-old Christian Myers went off the road and into the park, striking Mary Sugorovskiy and her two children, five-year-old Stephanie and three-year-old Maksym, killing Maksym almost instantly, the speed limit has been permanently dropped as of May 31, 2015 to . New guardrails have been installed, and the event has increased demands for the expressway to be converted to a parkway. Opposing parties are demanding that the speed limit be raised again and that the expressway remain an expressway. Mayor Byron Brown is on record as wanting the speed limit raised beyond Delaware Park in both directions as is Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, while some community groups and Assemblyman Sean Ryan have petitioned Governor Andrew Cuomo to issue an immediate order for conversion in violation of federal law regarding economic and environmental study requirements and construction.

Exit list

References

External links

{{NYSR external links, type=N, nyroutes=yes, termini=yes, route=198, alps=yes

198 __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

Transportation in Buffalo, New York Transportation in Erie County, New York Limited-access roads in New York (state)

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links