U.S. Route 219 (US 219) is a part of the

U.S. Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

that runs from

Rich Creek, Virginia Rich Creek is a town in Giles County, Virginia, Giles County, Virginia, United States. The population was 774 as per the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 665 as per the 2000 census. It is part of the Blacksburg, Virginia, Blacksburg& ...

, to

West Seneca, New York West Seneca is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 44,711 at the 2010 census. West Seneca is a centrally located interior town of the county, and a suburb of Buffalo. West Seneca, Orchard Park and Hamburg form the ...

. In the U.S. state of New York, US 219 extends from the Pennsylvania state line at Carrollton to an interchange with the New York State Thruway ( Interstate 90 or I-90) at exit 55 in

West Seneca West Seneca is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 44,711 at the 2010 census. West Seneca is a centrally located interior town of the county, and a suburb of Buffalo. West Seneca, Orchard Park and Hamburg form the ...

, southeast of downtown Buffalo. In Cattaraugus County, the area surrounding US 219 is predominantly rural. However, in northern Cattaraugus County, US 219 becomes an expressway leading through Erie County and into the heart of Buffalo. The route serves the villages of Ellicottville and Springville, where it meets New York State Route 242 (NY 242) and NY 39, respectively, and indirectly serves

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

via NY 391. The path of US 219 in New York mostly follows that of New York State Route 62, a route assigned in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York that extended from Great Valley north to Buffalo via Ellicottville, the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Ashford, Springville, and Hamburg. From Ellicottville to Springville, NY 62 utilized modern NY 242 and NY 240. It was renumbered to NY 75 , and became part of US 219 from Hamburg south when the U.S. Highway was extended into New York . The section north of Ellicottville has been realigned in the years since to follow a two-lane road from Ellicottville to Springville and the Southern Expressway from Springville to West Seneca. Long-term plans for the expressway call for it to extend from West Seneca south to

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

Route description

Cattaraugus County

US 219 crosses the

New York–Pennsylvania border The New York–Pennsylvania border is the state line between the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. It has three sections: * Along the center line of the Delaware River from the Tri-States Monument tripoint with New Jersey at the confluen ...

at Carrollton. The road begins by heading northward towards the

Southern Tier Expressway New York State Route 17 (NY 17) is a major state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in Mina and follows the Southern T ...

, paralleling

Tunungwant Creek Tunungwant Creek is a long fifth-order tributary to the Allegheny River. This is the only stream of this name in the United States. Course Tunungwant Creek forms at the confluence of East and West Branch Tunungwant Creek in McKean County, Penn ...

. Just after the Pennsylvania border, East Main Street becomes Hillside Drive and soon after Old U.S. Route 219 as it parallels US 219 for a short time. The road quickly merges into the current alignment as the U.S. route enters the hamlet of

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. A second incarnation of Old Route 219 parallels the U.S. route throughout Limestone. The road merges in just north of Limestone and US 219 continues northward. South Nine Mile Road ( County Route 30 or CR 30) leaves to the right just before the road merges into the Southern Tier Expressway (

I-86 Interstate 86 may refer to any of three unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States: * Interstate 86 (Pennsylvania–New York) * Interstate 86 (Idaho) * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts) Interstate 84 (I-84) is an I ...

and NY 17). Also present at this intersection is US 219 Business. The three roads

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * O ...

for six miles (10 km) until exit 21, where US 219 leaves the Southern Tier Expressway in

US 219 crosses through the city of Salamanca and heads north towards Ellicottville. While in Salamanca, US 219 and NY 417 become concurrent for about one mile (1.6 km). At the end of the concurrency comes the end of the business route. CR 49 terminates just north of Salamanca as US 219 enters Peth. In Peth, CR 67 leaves to the right. In Great Valley,

NY 98 New York State Route 98 (NY 98) is a state highway in the western part of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in the town of Great Valley in ...

leaves to the north. US 219 enters Ellicottville and intersects with NY 242. The two roads become concurrent for a short distance when US 219 turns to the north. Several Cattaraugus County roads intersect in the distance from Ellicottville to the Erie County border. The first is CR 75, the second is a concurrency between CR 53 and CR 85, and the third is CR 12, which has a brief concurrency with US 219 before leaving to the east. After an intersection with CR 77, US 219 has a brief concurrency with CR 85 before it becomes a

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

and crosses

Cattaraugus Creek Cattaraugus Creek is a stream, approximately long, in western New York in the United States.NY 39 at an interchange west of the village of Springville. The highway continues to the northwest, connecting to CR 49 (Genesee Road) later and CR 233 (Rice Road) after another . Five miles later, US 219 encounters NY 391 in Creekside. US Route 219 at Mile Strip Road

The route continues, connecting to CR 44 (New Armor Duells Road), a highway leading to NY 240 in the village of Orchard Park. Not far to the north is the next interchange with US 20A, which provides access to nearby

New Era Field Highmark Stadium is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo metropolitan area. The stadium opened in 1973 as Rich Stadium and is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). It was kn ...

. North of the village but still in the town of Orchard Park, US 219 crosses over US 20 prior to meeting NY 179 at an interchange just north of the US 20 overpass. The highway continues, curving to the northwest as it enters

and approaches the New York State Thruway ( I-90). Instead of immediately merging with the Thruway, US 219 runs parallel to the Thruway for roughly , with the northbound lanes running alongside the east side of the Thruway and the southbound lanes running alongside the west side. The two highways share an interchange with Ridge Road before US 219 finally merges into the Thruway.

History

Origins and designation

When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924,

NY 18 New York State Route 18 (NY 18) is an east–west state highway in western New York in the United States. It runs parallel to the south shore of Lake Ontario for most of its length between Niagara County and Monroe County. NY 18, ...

was assigned to an alignment extending from the Pennsylvania state line north of Bradford to downtown Buffalo. NY 18 went north from the state line to Bradford Junction, where it intersected NY 17 (now NY 417), another route assigned in 1924. The two routes converged here and

ped each other northwest to

, where NY 17 continued westward toward Jamestown while NY 18 proceeded northwestward toward Little Valley. NY 18 originally connected to PA 6 at the state line; however, by 1929, it connected to US 219 instead. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, the highway connecting NY 17 and NY 18 in Salamanca to Great Valley was designated as part of

.''Automobile Legal Association (ALA) Automobile Green Book'', 1930–31 and 1931–32 editions, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1930 and 1931). The 1930–31 edition shows New York state routes prior to the 1930 renumbering Assigned at the same time was NY 62, a route extending from Great Valley to NY 18 in downtown Buffalo by way of Ellicottville, Ashford, Springville, and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

US 62 was extended into New York ; as a result, the portion of NY 62 south of Athol Springs was renumbered to NY 75 to eliminate numerical duplication with the new U.S. Highway. The remainder of old NY 62 became part of an extended

NY 5 New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Sy ...

. US 219 was extended into New York , overlapping NY 18, NY 98, and NY 75 northward to a junction with US 62 in Hamburg. The overlap with NY 75 was eliminated by 1940 when NY 75 was truncated northward to US 62 in Hamburg. The other two overlaps ceased to exist when NY 18 and NY 98 were truncated to Lewiston and Great Valley, respectively.

Realignments

When it was first extended into New York, US 219 continued north from Ellicottville to Springville as it does today; however, it initially overlapped NY 242 between Ellicottville and Ashford and utilized what is now NY 240 between Ashford and Cattaraugus Street southeast of Springville. Within Springville, US 219 was routed along Cattaraugus Street and Buffalo Street and intersected NY 39 in the village center. Outside of the village, US 219 went north on Springville–Boston Road and Boston State Road to North Boston, from where US 219 continued to Hamburg by way of modern NY 391. In the early 1950s, construction began on a western bypass of Springville that connected US 219 just north of the village to East Otto Road south of Springville. The portion of the highway north of Waverly Street was completed by 1954. The remainder of the bypass was finished by 1956, at which time US 219 was realigned to follow the bypass around the village. At the south end of the bypass, US 219 continued south to Ellicottville by way of pre-existing, previously unnumbered highways. However, the segment of modern NY 240 vacated by US 219 did not become part of an extended NY 240 until the mid-1960s. In the 1990s, US 219 was rerouted to follow the

between exit 21 in Salamanca and exit 23 just south of Bradford Junction. The old alignment of US 219 through Carrollton and Salamanca became US 219 Business.

Southern Expressway

Construction began in the early 1970s on the Southern Expressway, a

connecting Buffalo to Springville. The first segment of the expressway—between the New York State Thruway east of Lackawanna and US 20A west of Orchard Park—opened to traffic by 1973 as a realignment of US 219. In between the end of the expressway and North Boston, US 219 temporarily overlapped US 20A and

NY 277 New York State Route 277 (NY 277) is a state highway in New York in the United States. This highway is also called Union Road, along with other names. NY 277 is a major north–south road east of Buffalo, New York, through th ...

. The freeway was extended south to North Boston in the mid-1970s and to Springville in the early 1980s. Both segments became part of US 219 upon opening. The former surface routing of US 219 between North Boston and Hamburg was redesignated as NY 391 following the completion of the expressway's first segment in the early 1970s while the remainder of US 219's former routing south to Springville was transferred to Erie County upon the completion of the entire Springville–Buffalo segment of the Southern Expressway. New U

Plans to extend the Southern Expressway southward from NY 39 in Springville to Peters Road in Ashford, a distance of , had been in development for years before they were finally put into action in the mid-2000s. Project specifications called for the installation of a four-lane right-of-way (two lanes in each direction) and the construction of 11 bridges, including twin bridges over

Cattaraugus Creek Cattaraugus Creek is a stream, approximately long, in western New York in the United States. The number was later revised to nine. Areas near parts of the new freeway were to become a wetland habitat. A portion of NY 39 near the current southern terminus was also reconstructed in 2007 and 2008 to accommodate for the completed interchange with US 219. The rights to the project were awarded to Cold Spring Construction on January 26, 2007, with work commencing on June 1. Altogether, the project was initially expected to cost $86 million and be completed in late 2009. The lengthy construction time was largely due to the need to construct two bridges over the Zoar Valley gorge. As of March 2009, the projected cost of the extension had risen to $116 million. Since 2007, the project had encountered several delays due to landslides in the vicinity of Scoby Hill Road and the need to conduct a second environmental impact study on the road's impact on wetlands in the area. As a result, the $86 million in state funding that was devoted to the project was reallocated to other projects in New York, a move confirmed by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) in March 2009. At the same time, however, NYSDOT left open the possibility of eventually restoring the funding. It was restored sometime afterward, and the highway was completed on November 19, 2010, with a total price tag of $125 million. Ownership and maintenance of the former surface alignment of US 219 north of Peters Road—now known as Miller Road, and including the two-lane, high-level bridge that currently carries it across the valley surrounding Cattaraugus Creek—was transferred from the state of New York to Erie and Cattaraugus counties. The two sections of road leading to and from the bridge were transferred immediately while the bridge itself was not turned over until a state-funded rehabilitation project was completed in 2013. The latter half of the plan drew criticism from Erie County officials who believe that the state should continue to maintain the bridge due to its size, importance and the resulting cost of upkeep. Because of safety concerns, the bridge was closed to traffic on January 5, 2012 and remained closed until April of that year while repairs were made to the structure. The section of US 219 between the Cattaraugus County line and Waverly Street in Springville became County Route 581. The section in Cattaraugus County became County Route 100. On July 6, 2014, the New York State Department of Transportation announced the extension of the Western New York Southtowns Scenic Byway, a scenic byway through Erie County from Orchard Park to Springville, into Cattaraugus County. The new extension would involve US 219 from NY 39 in Springville to the Great Valley town line and NY 240 down to NY 39 and NY 242.

Future

Long-term plans call for the Southern Expressway to be extended southward to the

(

and NY 17) in

. Planning wise, this section comprises four segments of the Southern Expressway, with the first five completed segments reaching from south of Springville to

. Construction of the remainder of the freeway has been delayed by two major factors: the inability to obtain rights from the Seneca nation that would allow the highway to go through the Allegany Reservation, and the lack of funding due to the state's financial woes. Work on the proposed highway's

environmental impact study Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

was suspended indefinitely in June 2009 as a result of the latter. NYSDOT intends to resume work on the study when the state's financial situation improves and funding can be restored to the project.

Major intersections

References

External links

CanHighways.com – U.S. Route 219US Route 219 – Southern Expressway (NY Route 39 to Peters Road – Section 5)Continental One
{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=219, state=New York, statebefore=Pennsylvania 19-2 Limited-access roads in New York (state) Transportation in Erie County, New York Transportation in Cattaraugus County, New York 2 in New York