New York State Route 104
New York State Route 104 is a east–west state highway in Upstate New York in the United States. It spans six counties and enters the vicinity of four cities—Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and Oswego—as it follows a routing largely parallel to the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario, along a ridge of the old shoreline of Glacial Lake Iroquois. The western terminus of NY 104 is an intersection with NY 384 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, while its eastern terminus is a junction with NY 13 in the town of Williamstown, Oswego County. The portion of NY 104 between Rochester and the village of Webster east of the city is a freeway known as the Keeler Street Expressway west of NY 590 and the Irondequoit–Wayne County Expressway east of NY 590; from Williamson to Oswego, NY 104 is a super two highway.
The majority of Ridge Road and modern NY 104 from the village of Red Creek to the town of Mexico were originally designated as part of Route 30, an unsigned legislative route, early in the 20th century. All of Ridge Road and its continuation through Oswego to the hamlet of Maple View gained a signed designation by 1926 and became part of U.S. Route 104, a United States Numbered Highway extending from Niagara Falls to Maple View,. US 104, which never connected to US 4, its implied parent route, was redesignated as NY 104 in June 1971. As part of the redesignation, NY 104 was extended east to NY 13 in Williamstown over what had been New York State Route 126.
The 104 designation, whether it be US 104 or NY 104, has shifted from surface streets to freeway and super twos, particularly from Rochester east to Oswego. The first such realignment occurred in the 1940s in Wayne County and was completed by the realignment of NY 104 onto the Irondequoit–Wayne County Expressway near Webster in the 1980s.
Route description
Niagara County
NY 104 begins at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. The Seaway Trail crosses NY 384 and follows NY 104 north on First Street for one block to the Niagara Scenic Parkway, where the byway and NY 104 veer onto Main Street. NY 104 follows Main Street through the city's largely commercial west side and intersects the northern or eastern terminus for US 62 and US 62 Business. North of US 62 Business, the area becomes more residential as NY 104 meets NY 182 southeast of the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. To the north, NY 104's name changes to Lewiston Road as it passes the south campus of Niagara University. Near the northern extent of the campus, NY 104 intersects the western terminus of NY 31, here named College Avenue. At the city limits, NY 104 meets the northbound Robert Moses State Parkway by way of a half-interchange. The portion of NY 104 between Third Street and the Lewiston town line is maintained by the city of Niagara Falls, and is the only part of NY 104 that is not maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation.Now in the town of Lewiston, NY 104 comes within view of the Niagara River gorge and begins to run along its eastern rim. NY 104 meets the northernmost point of NY 61 at the northern campus of Niagara University. Past NY 61, the route passes by the Niagara Power Visitors Center and over the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant. On the opposite side of the plant, NY 104 connects with Interstate 190 at exit 25 via Upper Mountain Road and passes under the eastern approach to the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge, which links I-190 with Ontario's Highway 405.
Past I-190, NY 104 begins to deviate from the Niagara River. It heads through a small neighborhood situated between the Moses Parkway and NY 104 and intersects the northern end of NY 265. North of this junction, NY 104 curves northeast to descend the Niagara Escarpment. As it heads downward in elevation, it intersects the western terminus of NY 18 by way of an interchange. As part of the same exit, NY 104 meets the parkway one more time as well as the southern terminus of NY 18F near the village of Lewiston. Here, the Seaway Trail leaves NY 104 to follow NY 18F. East of the exit, NY 104 intersects NY 18 again by way of another interchange.
East of Lewiston village, NY 104 follows Ridge Road through a sparsely populated area of Niagara County. Much of this portion of NY 104 is bordered on its southern end by the Tuscarora Indian Reservation. At the Lewiston hamlet of Dickersonville, the extents of the reservation head south, and development along NY 104 increases slightly. NY 104 meets the northern terminus of NY 429 at the Lewiston–Cambria town line and crosses over NY 425 at Streeters Corners. Just east of this location is an intersection with NY 93 in the community of Molyneaux Corners. The two routes form a concurrency east to Warrens Corners, a hamlet on the Cambria–Lockport town line, where NY 93 turns south to serve the city of Lockport.
NY 104 heads northeast through the extreme northwest corner of the town of Lockport to the town line, where it turns eastward to straddle the boundary between the towns of Lockport and Newfane. As it approaches the hamlet of Wrights Corners, the development along NY 104 increases substantially with the level peaking at the junction of NY 104 and NY 78. The two routes join for roughly into the town of Newfane before splitting north of the hamlet. Ridge Road continues northeast through a residential district, which gives way to open fields once more at Ridgewood. NY 104 turns east here, passing through the town of Hartland and intersecting the southern terminus of NY 148 and the northern terminus of NY 271. The route crosses into Orleans County at a junction with the southern terminus of NY 269, which straddles the county line.
Orleans and Monroe counties
The route heads northeast through the town of Ridgeway to the hamlet of the same name, where NY 104 meets NY 63. NY 63 joins NY 104 east along Ridge Road for about before continuing north toward Lake Ontario. NY 104, meanwhile, continues through the rural towns of Ridgeway and Gaines to a junction with NY 279 north of Albion. Not far to the east, NY 104 intersects NY 98, the primary north–south highway through Albion, in the hamlet of Childs. Just past the intersection on the north side of the road are two of the three cobblestone buildings of the Cobblestone Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.Farther east, Ridge Road enters the town of Murray, where it meets the northern terminus of NY 387 and intersects NY 237 in the hamlet of Murray. The two routes join for just under a mile before NY 237 breaks away to the south toward Holley. NY 104 exits Orleans County later in the same fashion as it entered: by intersecting a state highway. After meeting the southern terminus of NY 272, NY 104 crosses into Monroe County and becomes West Ridge Road as it heads through the town of Clarkson. In the densely populated hamlet of Clarkson Corners, NY 104 intersects NY 19. The open fields return east of the hamlet, and largely surround Ridge Road as NY 104 intersects NY 260. NY 104 heads onward into Parma, where it widens to four lanes and has a junction with NY 259 in Parma Corners.
East of Parma Corners, development on NY 104 steadily increases as it heads toward the town of Greece. By the Parma–Greece town line, where NY 104 intersects the southern terminus of NY 261, Ridge Road is lined with commercial properties of varying size. Continuing east, NY 104 meets the northern terminus of NY 386. Here, NY 104 widens to a six-lane divided highway. Between NY 386 and NY 390 exit 24, NY 104 passes by several large shopping malls, the largest of which is The Mall at Greece Ridge at the intersection of NY 104 and Long Pond Road. At NY 390, NY 104 continues to be a six-lane divided highway as it heads toward Rochester. It enters the city limits upon meeting Mount Read Boulevard at an interchange.
In Rochester, NY 104 passes through an area known as Kodak Park, the large industrial complex owned by Eastman Kodak that occupies an entire neighborhood. In the middle of the complex, NY 104 crosses the Rochester and Southern Railroad and the CSX Transportation-owned Charlotte Running Track and intersects the eastern terminus of NY 18. Continuing east, NY 104 crosses the Genesee River gorge on the Veterans Memorial Bridge. On the opposite bank, it loses the name West Ridge Road and becomes a limited-access highway known as the Keeler Street Expressway.
North of the first exit with St. Paul Street, Ridge Road resurfaces as East Ridge Road, which parallels the expressway to the north. NY 104 continues through Rochester and Irondequoit, connecting to North Clinton Avenue, Seneca Avenue, Hudson Avenue, Carter Street, Portland Avenue, North Goodman Street and Culver Road by way of interchanges. Between the Goodman Street and Culver Road exits, NY 104 passes the former Medley Centre. East of Culver, NY 104 encounters NY 590 and connects to NY 590 southbound by way of an interchange. East Ridge Road runs through the middle of this interchange, although there are no connections between Ridge and NY 104. There is also no access from NY 104 eastbound to NY 590 northbound; eastbound traffic must take Culver Road in order to go north toward Sea Breeze. Just east of the NY 590 interchange, NY 104 becomes the Irondequoit–Wayne County Expressway and crosses the Irondequoit Bay by way of the Irondequoit Bay Bridge. An access road between NY 104 just west of the bridge and NY 590 at Titus Avenue was once planned. Although entrance and exit ramps were built for the connection along NY 104, the rest of the link was never built, leaving no access from NY 104 westbound to NY 590 northbound and from NY 590 southbound to NY 104 eastbound.
On the other side of the bridge in the town of Webster, NY 104 has exits leading to Bay Road, Five Mile Line Road, Hard Road, and Holt Road prior to entering the village of Webster. Within the village, NY 104 meets NY 250 and Phillips Road by way of interchanges before exiting the village. The expressway loosely parallels the southern edge of the primary Xerox campus to an exit with Salt Road, where it downgrades to a divided highway as it continues east to Basket Road and the Monroe–Wayne county line, partially delimited by NY 404.