New York State Route 16

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NY Route 16
Seneca Street
Length:	79.19 mi[1] (127.44 km)
South end:	PA 646 near Knapp Creek
Major junctions:	I-86/NY 17 in Olean NY 400 in South Wales US 20A in East Aurora US 20 in West Seneca NY 400 in Buffalo US 62 in Buffalo
North end:	NY 5 in Buffalo
Counties:	Cattauragus, Erie
Numbered highways in New York < NY 15A NY 17 > Interstates - U.S. Routes - State Routes

New York State Route 16 is a state highway in New York, USA. It runs from the Pennsylvania state line, where it is one of the highest highways in the state in elevation, to downtown Buffalo.

NY 16 is a major route through Erie County, despite the construction of the paralleling NY 400 expressway from East Aurora. In Cattaraugus County it also plays an important role, serving as the major connection from Olean to the NY 17/I-86 Southern Tier Expressway. Between those two areas, and indeed for much of its length, it is a two-lane rural road.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Cattaraugus County 1.2 Erie County 2 Communities along the route 3 Major intersections 4 History 5 References

[edit] Route description

[edit] Cattaraugus County

When PA 646 becomes NY 16 at the state line, it is already at a very high elevation on a ridgecrest, and at a rise two miles (3.2 km) into New York, it reaches 2,386 feet (727 m) in elevation, making it the highest state highway in Western New York and among the highest in the state. It remains at a high elevation for several more miles, through what was once one of New York's major oil fields, then begins to drop through a narrow valley to cross the Allegheny River and enter its first major community, the city of Olean (which, like several other communities in the region, takes its name from oil).

It crosses the city as Union Street, intersecting its first state highway, NY 417, at State Street. A mile further north it reaches a bridge over Olean Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny. On the other side it becomes a four-lane road with a divider as it approaches NY 17, currently concurrent with Interstate 86 pending the entire expressway's upgrade to interstate standards.

A trumpet interchange provides access to 17/86 in both directions in the vicinity of Baldwin Heights. But 16 runs parallel to the freeway and remains a four-lane route (but no longer divided, following the Olean valley. At Hinsdale it finally does cross 17. Shortly afterwards, in the hamlet of Maplehurst, NY 446, the former route of 17, comes in from the east and terminates.

16 now follows the narrow valley of Ischua Creek, one of the Olean's tributaries, north past the road to the city's airport, north to Franklinville. NY 98 joins 16 just south of the village and leaves north of it. 16 continues to Machias and the eastern end of NY 242. A straight course takes the highway from this junction to the Cattaraugus Creek bridge and Erie County.

[edit] Erie County

In the southwestern corner of the county, an expanded 16 intersects an equally busy NY 39, then begins heading slightly northwestward through a wider, more developed valley in the towns of Holland and Wales to the first sign of an approaching major metropolitan area, the south end of NY 400, the Aurora Expressway. After joining the expressway for two miles, it again leaves to become a two-lane that enters East Aurora as Olean Street.

At the intersection with Main Street, 16 turns left and briefly joins with US 20A and NY 78. 20A leaves the two state routes behind at a fork at the village's east end, leaving 16 and 78 to head to the northwest again as Buffalo Street. At Willardshire Road as the highway passes the industrial parks and other facilities associated with local company Moog Inc. North of the village, it enters the Town of Elma and becomes Seneca Street, the name it will retain all the way to the city.

78 takes on its best-known name as well when it leaves at Transit Road (US 20), as 16 assumes an east-west heading across the suburban neighborhoods of West Seneca. It crosses NY 277, a major retail strip, at Union Road in the hamlet of Ebenezer. One final trumpet exit to 400 (and by extension, the New York State Thruway) precedes its junctions with Harlem Road (NY 240) and a crossing of the Thruway itself as it begins once again to head to the northwest and finally enters the city of Buffalo.

Running almost due northwest through the residential neighborhoods of South Buffalo, 16 reaches its last major junction, with US 62, at South Park Avenue just after crossing the Buffalo River. Immediately afterwards it crosses Interstate 190 with no exit and returns to a more east-west course through industrial areas before ending at Main Street, NY 5, in the city center.

[edit] Communities along the route

• Olean
• Franklinville
• East Aurora
• West Seneca
• Buffalo

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)	Notes
Cattaraugus	Knapp Creek	0.0	PA 646	Northern terminus of PA 646.
	Olean	8.7	NY 417
		10.2	I-86/NY 17	Exit 27 (I-86/NY 17).
		16.2	I-86/NY 17	Exit 28 (I-86/NY 17).
	Hinsdale	16.5	NY 446	Western terminus of NY 446.
	Village of Franklinville	28.3	NY 98	Southern terminus of concurrency.
		31.5	NY 98	Northern terminus of concurrency.
	Machias	35.1	NY 242	Eastern terminus of NY 242.
	Yorkshire	44.0	NY 39	Southern terminus of concurrency.
Erie	Sardinia	44.8	NY 39	Northern terminus of concurrency.
	South Wales	58.4	NY 400	Southern terminus of concurrency. Southern terminus of NY 400.
	East Aurora	60.4	NY 400	Northern terminus of concurrency. Interchange.
		62.5	US 20A NY 78	Eastern terminus of concurrency.
		63.6	US 20A	Western terminus of concurrency. The NY 16/NY 78 concurrency continues.
	Elma Center	66.7	NY 422	Former western terminus of NY 422.
	West Seneca	69.2	US 20
		69.2	NY 78	Western terminus of concurrency.
		72.4	NY 277
	Buffalo	74.0	NY 400 Aurora Expressway	Interchange.
		74.3	NY 240 Orchard Park Rd./Harlem Rd.
			I-90/Thruway New York State Thruway	NY 16 passes under I-90.
		76.7	US 62 Bailey Ave.
		76.9	I-190/Thruway New York State Thruway	Exit 3 (I-190/Thruway).
		79.2	NY 5 Ellicott St.

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency termini	Decommissioned	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] History

Originally, NY 16 from the Pennsylvania state line north to Olean was designated New York State Route 16A. At this time, NY 16 followed what is now New York State Route 305 from Pennsylvania to New York State Route 417 (then New York State Route 17) in Portville. The two routes continued westward to Olean, where NY 16 joined its modern alignment.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} New York Routes - New York State Route 16