New York State Route 18

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NY Route 18

Length:

87.28 mi^[1] (140.46 km)

West end:

NY 18F/NY 104/RMSP in Lewiston

Major
junctions:

Robert Moses Pk. in Youngstown

LOSP at Lakeside Beach St. Pk.

NY 390 in Greece

East end:

NY 104 in Rochester

Counties:

Niagara, Orleans, Monroe

New York State Routes
< NY 17M		NY 18A >

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, NY 18F, and the Robert Moses State Parkway 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.

1 Route description
2 Communities along the route
3 Major intersections
4 History
5 References

[edit] Route description

[edit] Niagara County

NY 18 begins at a complex grade-separated interchange that includes NY 18, 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 duplex south to Baldwin Corner, where NY 18 continues east. After passing NY 237 south of Kendall, NY 18 forms a duplex 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 Parma Center, NY 18 meets NY 259, Lake Avenue, in the center of the hamlet. The two routes duplex for a short distance east along East Avenue before turning south onto Hilton-Parma Corners Road. NY 18 and NY 259 remain duplexed until Parma Center Road, where NY 18 turns east for two miles before turning south onto NY 261, Manitou Road, and forming a small duplex 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.

[edit] Communities along the route

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)	Notes
Niagara	Lewiston	0.0	NY 18F NY 104 Robert Moses Pkwy	Southern terminus of NY 18F. Grade-separated interchange.
	Lewiston	1.0	NY 104
	Youngstown	6.9	NY 93
		7.7	NY 18F	Northern terminus of NY 18F.
		8.5	Robert Moses Pkwy	Northern terminus of Robert Moses Pkwy.
	Wilson	17.8	NY 425	Northern terminus of NY 425.
	Olcott	23.7	NY 78	Northern terminus of NY 78.
	Somerset	31.8	NY 148	Northern terminus of NY 148.
	Barker	36.4	NY 269	Northern terminus of NY 269. NY 269 runs concurrent to Niagara-Orleans county line.
Orleans	Yates Center	40.3	NY 63	Northern terminus of NY 63.
	Carlton	47.2	NY 279	Northern terminus of NY 279.
	Lakeside Beach St. Park	48.2	Lake Ontario Pkwy	Western terminus of the LOSP.
	Baldwin Corner	50.8	NY 98	Northern terminus of duplex.
	Baldwin Corner	51.3	NY 98	Southern terminus of duplex.
	Kendall	60.0	NY 237
	Morton	62.2	NY 272	Northern terminus of concurrency with NY 272 and the Orleans-Monroe county line.
	Morton	63.1	NY 272	Southern terminus of concurrency with NY 272 and the Orleans-Monroe county line.
Monroe	Hamlin	67.0	NY 19
	Hamlin	70.0	NY 260
	Parma Center	73.8	NY 259	Northern terminus of duplex.
	Hilton	75.9	NY 259	Southern terminus of duplex.
	West Greece	78.0	NY 261	Northern terminus of duplex.
	West Greece	78.2	NY 261	Southern terminus of duplex.
	Greece	82.5	NY 390	Exit 26 (NY 390).
	Rochester	87.3	NY 104

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency termini	Decommissioned	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] History

Prior to the 1960s, NY 18 traversed most of western New York, extending 231 miles across the state from the Pennsylvania border to Sodus Point.^[2] South of its current western terminus in Lewiston, most of NY 18 was duplexed with other state and U.S. routes, making this portion of the routing a prime candidate to be decommissioned in the 1960s.

Over the next decade, NY 18 would be truncated to Monroe County in the east and, eventually, to the city of Rochester to its present eastern terminus.

[edit] Original Alignment

NY 18 began at the point where U.S. Route 219 enters New York in Limestone. The two routes formed a duplex north to Salamanca, where the duplex split at the current intersection of US 219, U.S. Route 219 Business, and NY 417. NY 18 continued west on the current routing of NY 417 to Center Street, where NY 18 resumed its northward trek on the alignment of what is now NY 353.

At the present northern terminus of NY 353 at U.S. Route 62 in Dayton, NY 18 turned north onto US 62, forming another duplex north through Buffalo to Niagara Falls, where US 62 reaches its northern terminus at then-U.S. Route 104 and present-day NY 104. NY 18 continued to the northeast along US 104, arriving at its present western terminus in Lewiston.

In Kodak Park, NY 18 continued east from its present eastern terminus along US 104, forming a duplex along West Ridge Road, the Veterans Memorial Bridge, and East Ridge Road before splitting at Culver Road in Irondequoit. While US 104 continued east to NY 47, NY 18 turned north onto Culver Road, passing through Irondequoit and traveling by the Seabreeze Amusement Park before resuming its lakeshore alignment as Culver Road became Lake Road after crossing the Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge. NY 18 then follows the length of Lake Road to Sodus Point, where NY 18 terminated at the northern terminus of NY 14.

Along with its present alignment, the routing of NY 18 stretched for 107.5 miles from Limestone to Niagara Falls, 7.5 miles from Rochester to Irondequoit Bay, and 29 miles from Irondequoit Bay to Sodus Point.^[2]

[edit] Truncation

During the 1960s, NY 18 was truncated on both extents of the route. On its western side, NY 18 was reduced to its present western terminus in Lewiston. To the east, NY 18 was stopped at NY 250 north of Webster. Later that decade, NY 18 was rerouted from Culver Road onto present-day NY 590, which parallels the road between East Ridge Road and the lake shore.

On the same day that NY 47 was decommissioned around Rochester, March 18, 1980, NY 18 was truncated for the last time, this time to its present eastern terminus in Kodak Park. This move allowed the newly-created NY 590 to solely occupy the Sea Breeze Expressway between East Ridge Road and Culver Road.

[edit] Today

All of NY 18's former alignment south of Lewiston is currently maintained in the form of either a U.S. Route or a state highway. East of Rochester, Culver Road, most of East Ridge Road, and most of Lake Road are now county-maintained (County Route 120, County Route 241, County Route 1 and County Route 101, respectively).

Some portions remain state-maintained, however. East Ridge Road between St. Paul Street and North Clinton Avenue is now NY 104 Truck. Lake Road between the Outlet Bridge and NY 250 is unsigned Reference Route 941L.

[edit] Impact of the Hojack

Due the presence of the Hojack Line further south, the importance of NY 18 prior to the complete abandonment of the Hojack in 1979 was reduced.^[3] The Hojack Line entered the actual villages, rather than passing to the north of them as NY 18 did. Nonetheless, several hamlets developed. Many of these east of Lyndonville, however, have lost importance due to the construction of the Lake Ontario State Parkway.