Interstate 190 (New York) - History

History

The portion of modern I-190 south of NY 384 in Niagara Falls was originally built by the New York State Thruway Authority as part of the New York State Thruway system. Construction on two segments of the highway—from Church Street to Porter Avenue in downtown Buffalo and from Beaver Island Parkway to West River Road on Grand Island—began in the early 1950s. The section in downtown Buffalo was completed by 1954 while the Grand Island portion opened at some point between 1956 and 1958. A short segment of the highway between the Skyway and Church Street was completed around the same time. By 1958, construction had begun on the remainder of the Niagara Thruway. It was completed c. 1961.

On August 14, 1957, the routing of what is now I-190 (including the then-partially complete Niagara Thruway) was originally designated as I-90N. This is because intercity routes—such as I-90N, which connected Buffalo to Canada via Niagara Falls—were numbered before the three-digit Interstates were assigned to the shorter intracity routes. I-90N was renumbered to I-190 on February 24, 1959. Construction on the portion of I-190 north of NY 384 began c. 1962 and was completed by 1964.

In 1991, maintenance of I-84 in downstate New York was transferred from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA). The monies for that purpose came from tolls levied on I-190 in downtown Buffalo. Under the laws authorizing the Thruway construction, the tolls were to be removed once the original bonds used to pay for the construction were paid off, which occurred in 1996; however, the tolls would remain for ten more years. Attorney Carl Paladino brought a lawsuit against the state in 2006 to force the removal of the tolls. On October 30, 2006, the Thruway Authority voted to both begin the process of returning maintenance of I-84 to NYSDOT and to remove the tolls on I-190 in Buffalo. Collection of the tolls stopped that day. Both major candidates in the 2006 New York gubernatorial election, Democrat Eliot Spitzer and Republican John Faso, had pledged to remove the tolls on I-190 if elected. While the toll barriers in Buffalo have since been demolished, the tolls further north on the Grand Island bridges still remain.