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 and the state of New York in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the river's name. According to Iroquoian scholar Bruce Trigger, Niagara is derived from the name given to a branch of the locally residing native Neutral Confederacy, who are described as being called the Niagagarega people on several late-17th-century French maps of the area. According to George R. Stewart, it comes from the name of an Iroquois town called Ongniaahra, meaning "point of land cut in two".
Grand Island is a town located in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town's population was 20,374, representing an increase of 9.41% from the 2000 census figure. The town's name derives from the French name La Grande Île, as Grand Island is the largest island in the Niagara River and third largest in New York state. The phrase La Grande Île appears on the town seal.
E‑ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on most tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the Midwestern and Eastern United States, as far south as Florida and as far west as Illinois. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of 39 member agencies in operation within 17 states, which use the same technology and allow travelers to use the same transponder on toll roads throughout the network. Since its creation in 1987, various independent systems that use the same technology have been folded into the E-ZPass system, including the I-Pass in Illinois and the NC Quick Pass in North Carolina. Negotiations are ongoing for nationwide interoperability in the United States.
The Peace Bridge is an international bridge between Canada and the United States at the east end of Lake Erie at the source of the Niagara River, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) upriver of Niagara Falls. It connects Buffalo, New York, in the United States to Fort Erie, Ontario, in Canada. It is operated and maintained by the binational Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.
The New York State Thruway is a system of controlled-access highways spanning 569.83 miles (917.05 km) within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), a New York State public-benefit corporation. The 496.00-mile (798.23 km) mainline is a toll road that extends from the New York City line at Yonkers to the Pennsylvania state line at Ripley by way of Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Thruway is the fifth busiest toll road in the United States.
King's Highway 3, commonly referred to as Highway 3, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which travels parallel to the northern shoreline of Lake Erie. It has three segments, the first of which travels from the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor to Highway 77 in Leamington. The second portion begins at Talbotville Royal outside of St. Thomas at Highway 4, and travels to the western city limits of Port Colborne. The road is regionally maintained within Port Colborne as Niagara Regional Road 3, but regains its provincial designation at Highway 140. Its third and final terminus is at Edgewood Park, within the Fort Erie town limits. From there, the road continues as Niagara Regional Road 3 to the Peace Bridge, where drivers can cross to the United States. The total length of Highway 3 is 259.2 km (161.1 mi), consisting of 50.2 km (31.2 mi) from Windsor to Leamington, 187.9 km (116.8 mi) from Talbotville Royal to Port Colborne and 21.1 km (13.1 mi) from Port Colborne to Edgewood Park.
Interstate 190 is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway that connects I-90 in Buffalo, New York with the Canada-U.S. border near Niagara Falls. The freeway bisects downtown Buffalo before crossing Grand Island and travelling around the outskirts of Niagara Falls before crossing the Niagara River on the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge into Ontario. On the Canada side of the Canada–US border, the freeway continues as Highway 405, a short spur that connects with the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), which in turn provides a freeway connection to Toronto, Canada's largest city. The 28.34-mile-long (45.61 km) route also provides access to the QEW at the Peace Bridge between Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario.
Interstate 290 (I-290) is a 10.24-mile-long (16.48 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area It connects I-190 in Tonawanda with I-90 in Williamsville, via Amherst. It provides a route to Niagara Falls and Canada from the east that bypasses the city of Buffalo. I-290 also connects to I-990, and through this connection, provides access to the Amherst Campus of the University at Buffalo. Its official name is the Youngmann Memorial Highway, but locally, it is colloquially referred to as "the 290" and "the Youngmann". The highway provides the fastest road link between Toronto and the heavily-populated Northeastern United States via I-90.
New York State Route 324 (NY 324) is an east–west state highway located in the western portion of New York in the United States. Officially, NY 324 begins at NY 384 in Niagara Falls and overlaps Interstate 190 south to Grand Island, where it separates from I-190 and continues southward as Grand Island Boulevard. As signed, however, NY 324 begins at the southern end of the official overlap and is contained entirely within Erie County. At the southern edge of Grand Island, NY 324 joins I-190 to cross over to the mainland, where it runs due east across three towns before reaching its eastern end at a junction with NY 5 in the town of Clarence.
The Niagara Scenic Parkway is an 18.42-mile (29.64 km) long north–south highway in western Niagara County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at the LaSalle Expressway on the east bank of the Niagara River in Niagara Falls. The northern terminus is at New York State Route 18 (NY 18) at Four Mile Creek State Park in Porter near Lake Ontario. Originally, the parkway was one continuous road; however, due to low usage, a portion of the parkway near Niagara Falls was removed, separating the parkway into two sections. The length of the parkway is designated as New York State Route 957A by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). A 1.16-mile (1.87 km) long spur connecting the Niagara Scenic Parkway to Fort Niagara State Park near Youngstown is designated as New York State Route 958A. Both reference route designations are unsigned.
New York State Route 265 (NY 265) is a 19.75-mile (31.78 km) long state highway located in the western part of New York in the United States. NY 265 is a north–south route that roughly parallels the western parts of the Niagara River in Erie County and Niagara County. For much of its southern course, it is more frequently referred to by its longtime name, Military Road, which dates back to 1801 as a road to connect the city of New Amsterdam and Fort Niagara near Lake Ontario.
New York State Route 384 (NY 384) is a state highway in Western New York in the United States. It is a north–south route extending from the city of Buffalo, Erie County to the city of Niagara Falls, Niagara County, and is one of several routes directly connecting the two cities. The southern terminus of the route is at NY 5 in downtown Buffalo. NY 384's northern terminus is at the Rainbow Bridge in downtown Niagara Falls. Through its entire course in Erie County, it is known as Delaware Avenue for the street it follows in the city. In Niagara County, NY 384 follows the Niagara River and is named River Road and Buffalo Avenue.
The LaSalle Expressway is a 2.62-mile (4.22 km) limited-access highway in Niagara County, New York, in the United States. It begins near the North Grand Island Bridge at an interchange with Interstate 190 (I-190) in Niagara Falls and ends just south of the Niagara Falls International Airport at Williams Road (NY 952V) in Wheatfield. The LaSalle Expressway is part of New York State Route 951A (NY 951A), an unsigned reference route; the other, 0.42-mile (0.68 km) 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.
New York State Route 266 (NY 266) is a state highway in Erie County, New York, in the United States. It runs along the Niagara River from the city of Buffalo to the city of Tonawanda. The southern terminus of the route is at the ramps leading to Interstate 190 exit 8 in Buffalo. Its northern terminus is at an intersection with NY 265 just south of North Tonawanda in Tonawanda.
New York State Route 179 (NY 179) is a short 4.40-mile (7.08 km) long state highway located south of Buffalo in Erie County, New York, in the United States. It is a four-lane divided road for most of its length. It is known as Mile Strip Road. A small section between U.S. Route 62 (US 62) and NY 5 in Blasdell, however, is a limited-access highway known as the Mile Strip Expressway. It connects to two major expressways, the New York State Thruway and the Southern Expressway (US 219), by way of interchanges. It serves as a connector road between them and three other major routes, NY 5, US 62, and US 20. Thus it is very busy not only at rush hours, but also after Buffalo Bills' home football games due to its proximity to Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Transportation in New York is made up of some of the most extensive and one of the oldest transportation infrastructures in the country. Engineering difficulties because of the terrain of New York State and the unique issues of New York City brought on by urban crowding have had to be overcome since the state was young. Population expansion of the state generally followed the path of the early waterways, first the Hudson River and then the Erie Canal. Today, railroad lines and the New York State Thruway follow the same general route.
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail, formerly named and commonly known as the Seaway Trail, is a 518-mile (834 km) National Scenic Byway in the northeastern United States, mostly contained in New York but with a small segment in Pennsylvania. The trail consists of a series of designated roads and highways that travel along the Saint Lawrence Seaway—specifically, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the Saint Lawrence River. It begins at the Ohio state line in rural Erie County, Pennsylvania, and travels through several cities and villages before ending at the Seaway International Bridge northeast of the village of Massena in St. Lawrence County, New York. It is maintained by the non-profit Seaway Trail, Inc.
U.S. Route 62 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from the United States–Mexico border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York. In the U.S. state of New York, US 62 extends 102.77 miles (165.39 km) from the New York–Pennsylvania border south of Jamestown to an intersection with New York State Route 104 in downtown Niagara Falls, bypassing the city of Jamestown and serves the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, along with several villages. It is the only north–south mainline U.S. highway in Western New York. US 62 was extended into New York c. 1932 and originally was concurrent with the state highways that had previously been designated along its routing-- namely NY 18, NY 60, NY 83 and NY 241. These concurrencies were eliminated individually during the 1940s and 1960s. The last of the four concurrencies, with NY 18 from Dayton to Niagara Falls, was removed c. 1962. US 62 has one special route, US 62 Business, located in Niagara Falls. US 62 Business is a former routing of US 62 within the city and was once NY 62A.
Transportation in Buffalo, New York is dominated by automobile use, but other modes of transportation exist in the city.
