page_title: New York State Route 18
section_title: Origins and early changes
hierarchical_section_title: New York State Route 18 / History / Origins and early changes
caption_attribution_description: An old-style reference marker on Lake Road in Webster, New York, bearing markings for New York State Route 18. This part of Lake Road was part of NY 18 from the 1930s to the 1970s.
context_page_description: New York State Route 18 is an east–west state highway in western New York in the United States. It runs parallel to the south shore of Lake Ontario for most of its length between Niagara County and Monroe County. NY 18, which also passes through Orleans County, acts as a northerly alternate to NY 104, another east–west route that parallels NY 18 to the south on Ridge Road. The western terminus of NY 18 is at a complex grade-separated interchange with NY 104 outside the village of Lewiston. Its eastern terminus is at a junction with NY 104 in an area of Rochester known as Kodak Park.
  NY 18 was assigned in 1924 and originally extended from the Pennsylvania state line near Salamanca to downtown Buffalo via Dayton and Hamburg. It was extended northeast to Rochester via Niagara Falls as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and east to NY 250 in the town of Webster by the following year. NY 18 was truncated on its west end to the town of Lewiston in the early 1960s and on its east end to Rochester in the early 1970s.
  Although NY 18 is signed as east–west, it runs primarily north–south through the western portion of Niagara County.
context_section_description: In 1908, the New York State Legislature created Route 18, an unsigned legislative route that ran from the Pennsylvania state line at Ripley to the mouth of the Niagara River north of Youngstown with a gap through the city of Buffalo. North of Buffalo, Route 18 followed Niagara Falls Boulevard (modern NY 950K and U.S. Route 62 or US 62) to Niagara Falls and current NY 104 and NY 18F between Niagara Falls and Lake Ontario. When the first set of posted routes in New York were assigned in 1924, the portion of legislative Route 18 north of Buffalo became the basis for NY 34, which began at Main Street (NY 5) in Buffalo and followed the path of legislative Route 18 through Niagara Falls and along the Niagara River to Lake Ontario. NY 18 was assigned at the same time; however, it initially went from the Pennsylvania state line at Limestone north to Buffalo along what is now US 219, NY 417, NY 353 and US 62. In Cattaraugus County, NY 18 initially followed Leon and New Albion Roads between Cattaraugus and Little Valley.
  NY 18 was extended northeastward to Rochester as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, effectively doubling the route's length. Instead of ending at the junction of Ohio and Main Streets (the latter then part of NY 5) in downtown Buffalo, NY 18 now overlapped with NY 5 along Main Street north to Niagara Falls Boulevard, where it turned north and proceeded to Lake Ontario over NY 34. At Youngstown, the route turned east, following a previously unnumbered alignment along the lakeshore to Rochester, where it ended at NY 31 (now NY 104) in Kodak Park. The route was extended further eastward to NY 250 in Webster by the following year by way of East Ridge Road, Culver Road, and Lake Road. NY 18 was never extended eastward past its junction with NY 250.
  While the general routing of NY 18 between Youngstown and Rochester was the same in 1930 as it is now, it initially followed a slightly different alignment through eastern Orleans County and western Monroe County. NY 18 broke from its current alignment at Carr Road and followed Carr, Kenmore and Kendall Roads through the town of Kendall to the hamlet of Morton, from where it continued to Hamlin via the now-decommissioned NY 360 and NY 19. Additionally, NY 18 utilized Hamlin Center Road and what is now NY 260 between Hamlin and Roosevelt Highway.
  The majority of NY 18's routing south of the village of Lewiston was incorporated into the U.S. Highway System in the early 1930s after US 62 and US 219 were extended into New York and US 104 was assigned. NY 18 now began concurrent to US 219 at the state line and overlapped the route northward to the city of Salamanca. US 219 left NY 18 here, and the latter continued independently to the town of Dayton, where it intersected US 62. From there, US 62 followed NY 18 north to a junction with US 104 (Main Street) in Niagara Falls. US 62 ended here, and NY 18 became concurrent to US 104 upon turning onto Main Street. The overlap ended in the village of Lewiston, where US 104 turned east to follow Ridge Road instead.
caption: March 2008 photo of a reference marker for NY 18 on Lake Road in Webster
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