page_title: New York State Route 324
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: New York State Route 324 / History
caption_attribution_description: English: New York State Route 324 eastbound in Amherst, New York.
context_page_description: New York State Route 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.
  NY 324 is known by two names along its routing: Grand Island Boulevard on Grand Island and Sheridan Drive in the northern suburbs of Buffalo. As the latter, the route serves as a major commercial strip for Tonawanda, Amherst, and Clarence. NY 324, assigned c. 1933, is one of two routes to occupy part of Sheridan Drive; the other is New York State Route 325, which follows the westernmost 1.42 miles of the street. NY 324 once extended northwest to downtown Niagara Falls; however, it was truncated to its current western terminus on January 1, 1962.
context_section_description: Sheridan Drive was constructed during the early 1920s as a town of Tonawanda project to help alleviate the anticipated growth of the village of Kenmore. Despite its construction, the new road was not without controversy. During construction, new traffic lights were put in with concrete supports were opposed heavily by the town of Tonawanda and its residents, resulting in the traffic lights not having been built for many years. The town also felt that the construction of a superhighway in the middle of the country in Tonawanda was unjustified with the average traffic in that area. After construction of Sheridan Drive was completed in 1925, a monument with a statue of General Phillip Sheridan was constructed to commemorate the new road. However, the taxpayers feeling enough money had already been spent on the road, the statue of Sheridan was never constructed and only the monument to the road's construction was completed. In order to give the road a new look, the road had large trees planted throughout what was considered a desolate area at the time.
  Due to an archaic law in Erie County, the town of Tonawanda and the town of Amherst, who completed the road in 1925, were requested in 1935 to take over $2 million (1935 USD) in debts bonded for its construction. The county noted that the towns' inability to pay for the road made the new road a financial burden for the county. To make things worse, the new road did not bring the immediate influx of business that was advertised and was looking early on as a giant mistake on the part of the county and towns.
  When NY 324 was assigned c. 1933, it began at NY 384 (River Road; now NY 266) in the town of Tonawanda and followed Sheridan Drive eastward to NY 5 in the town of Clarence. By 1935, what is now NY 324 between Niagara Falls and Tonawanda via Grand Island was designated as NY 325. NY 324 was extended northward to NY 384 in Niagara Falls c. 1937, supplanting the entirety of NY 325. The NY 325 designation was reassigned to the short piece of Sheridan Drive not designated as NY 324. The route was extended one final time by 1948 to follow NY 384 westward from the North Grand Island Bridge into downtown Niagara Falls.
  NY 324 remained unchanged until January 1, 1962, when the overlap with NY 384 was removed. Although the overlap with the new I-190 on the North Grand Island Bridge was also removed from maps during the same period, and is no longer signed, this overlap was never officially removed from either NYSDOT's description of the route or the annual NYSDOT Traffic Data Report.
caption: NY 324 eastbound in Amherst
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