New York State Route 104

In 1908, the New York State Legislature established Route 30, an unsigned legislative route extending from Niagara Falls, Niagara County in the southwest to Rouses Point, Clinton County, in the northeast. From Rochester to Red Creek, Route 30 was assigned to Ridge Road. Between Red Creek and the hamlet of Union Square (now Maple View) in the town of Mexico, it included most of modern NY 104. At the same time, the roadway alongside the Niagara River between Ridge Road in Lewiston and Pine Avenue in downtown Niagara Falls was designated, but not signed, as part of Route 18. By 1914, Route 30 was amended to also include the section of Ridge Road from Porter (modern NY 429) to Ridgeway (NY 63). In 1914, another section—from Ridgeway to the Orleans–Monroe county line—was also included in Route 30's definition as a spur route.

When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924, the segments of Route 30 from Rochester to Red Creek and from Oswego to Maple View became part of NY 3. Between Red Creek and Oswego, NY 3 was routed on what is now NY 104A. Farther west, the portion of Route 18 from Niagara Falls to Lewiston was included as part of NY 34. By 1926, all of legislative Route 30 west of Rochester was designated as part of NY 31. In the late 1920s, however, NY 31 was realigned to follow Ridge Road west from Porter to Lewiston. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY 34 became part of an extended NY 18 while New York State Route 3E was assigned to the portion of former legislative Route 30 between Red Creek and Oswego. NY 3E was renumbered to New York State Route 3F .

Establishment of US 104

thumb|upright|Sign assembly for [[U.S. Route 62 in New York|US 62 and US 104 in Niagara Falls. US 104 had long since been redesignated as NY 104 by the time of this photo.]]

US 104 was assigned across Upstate New York in April 1935, extending from Niagara Falls to Maple View via Lewiston, Rochester, and Oswego. It overlapped NY 18 from Niagara Falls to Lewiston and replaced NY 3 and NY 31 from Lewiston to Maple View (except from Red Creek to Oswego, where US 104 followed NY 3F instead). As a result, NY 31 was shifted south onto most of its modern alignment while NY 3 was rerouted south of Watertown to follow what had been NY 3D. Although US 104 was technically a child route of US 4, it did not connect to US 4. A highway extending eastward from US 11 and US 104 at Maple View to NY 13 in Williamstown was designated as NY 126 .

When it was first assigned, US 104 dipped south to serve downtown Rochester instead of bypassing it to the north. US 104 left Ridge Road at Lake Avenue and followed Lake Avenue and State Street south to Main Street in downtown. It followed Main Street and Winton Road to Empire Boulevard, where it turned east to rejoin Ridge Road in Webster. It was rerouted to continue east on Ridge Road over the Veterans Memorial Bridge and through Irondequoit to Culver Road. US 104 turned here, following Culver Road south to Empire Boulevard and the latter east to Winton Road, where it reconnected to its original routing through the city. The realignment created a significant overlap with NY 18, which joined US 104 in the vicinity of Kodak Park and separated at Culver Road, where it headed north instead.

Conversion to expressways

Work began in the 1940s on new super two alignments for US 104 in Wayne, Cayuga, and Oswego counties. The new highway was built on a routing parallel to that of Ridge Road and served as a bypass of the communities along Ridge Road. The first portion of the super two, extending from the Monroe–Wayne county line at Union Hill to west of Sodus, was built in the mid-1940s and completed by 1947. An extension of the highway around Sodus to NY 414 in Huron was constructed in the mid-1960s and opened by 1968. In between the end of the super two and Ridge Road, US 104 was routed on Lake Bluff Road. The remainder of the super two between Huron and Red Creek was finished by 1974. East of the super two, a bypass was constructed around the village of Hannibal during the early 1960s and opened to traffic by 1964.

thumb|left|Northbound on Culver Road (former US 104) in [[Irondequoit, New York|Irondequoit just north of NY 104]]

Similar conversion projects were also conducted elsewhere. In Irondequoit, the portion of the Sea Breeze Expressway (now NY 590) from Empire Boulevard to Culver Road opened in the late 1950s. US 104 and NY 18 were extended eastward along East Ridge Road to meet the expressway at what is now exit 11. Both designations entered the freeway; however, NY 18 followed the roadway north to Culver Road while US 104 progressed south to Empire Boulevard, where it rejoined its former surface alignment towards Webster. The of Empire Boulevard between the Rochester city line and the Sea Breeze Expressway remains state-maintained to this day as NY 941B, an unsigned reference route. The name of the expressway was derived from Keeler Street, a small residential street that originally connected to East Ridge Road and St. Paul Street by way of a traffic circle on the east bank of the Genesee River. The street was turned into a dead-end street as a result of the expressway's construction. NY 18 was truncated to its current eastern terminus , eliminating the overlap entirely.

thumb|[[Reference marker (New York)|Reference marker for NY 104 on NY 404 in Webster. NY 404 is the former alignment of NY 104 through eastern Monroe County.]]

The first segment of an eastward extension of the Keeler Street Expressway, named the Irondequoit–Wayne County Expressway, opened between the Sea Breeze Expressway (at this point designated as part of NY 47) and Five Mile Line Road. In between, US 104 crossed Irondequoit Bay by way of the Irondequoit Bay Bridge. US 104's former surface alignment between NY 47 and Five Mile Line Road was redesignated NY 404 while US 104 was temporarily realigned onto Five Mile Line Road between the expressway and Ridge Road to connect to its former alignment.

Redesignation and completion

The segment of I-81 through central New York was built on an alignment that closely paralleled US 11 from the Pennsylvania state line northward to the city of Watertown. The portion of I-81 near Maple View was completed in late 1961, at which time US 104 was extended eastward over NY 126 to meet the new highway. NY 126 was truncated on its west end to the I-81 interchange as a result. US 104 was redesignated as NY 104 in June 1971,

By 1978, the frontage roads between Five Mile Line Road and NY 250 in Webster were completed. NY 104 was rerouted eastward along the roadways while NY 404 was extended over NY 104's old alignment to NY 250 in Webster. while the main carriageway of NY 104 between Five Mile Line Road and NY 250 was completed in the early 1980s. NY 404 was extended east along the former alignment of NY 104 to the county line upon the total completion of the Five Mile Line Road–NY 250 segment.

Suffixed routes

NY 104 has two suffixed routes, both of which were assigned . A long segment of NY 104 Truck follows the former alignment of US 104 east along East Ridge Road from St. Paul Street to Hudson Avenue.

References

External links

Endpoints of US 104
Old NY 104 – Ridge Road in the Sodus Bay and Wolcott Areas