New York State Route 198 (NY 198) is a state highway located entirely within the city of Buffalo, New York, in the United States. It is named the Scajaquada Expressway ( ) for Scajaquada Creek, which it covers as it heads across northern Buffalo. NY 198 connects the Niagara Thruway (Interstate 190 or I-190) in the Black Rock neighborhood to the Kensington Expressway (NY 33) on Buffalo's east side, dividing the city's premier public park in half.
Route description
NY 198 begins at exit 11, a semi-directional T-interchange, of I-190 in the Black Rock section in the city of Buffalo, alongside the Niagara River. NY 198 proceeds northeastward as the Scajaquada Expressway, a four-lane expressway through Buffalo. Just after the interchange, the route crosses over NY 266 (Niagara Street) and westbound serves an interchange with NY 266 and NY 265. NY 198 winds northeast into the West Side of Buffalo, approaching the campus of Buffalo State College as it enters an interchange with Grant Street, accessible from both directions. At this interchange, NY 198 bends eastward along the northern edge of campus, passing Coyer Field, Moore Complex, and several residence halls as it bends southeast alongside the campus.
Now in the Elmwood Village section of Buffalo, NY 198 bends eastward once again and provides a four-way interchange with access to Elmwood Avenue and the nearby Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Buffalo History Museum. After the interchange, NY 198 enters Delaware Park, passes Hoyt Lake, and then encounters a four-way interchange with NY 384 (Delaware Avenue). After NY 384, NY 198 bends southeast, passing north of Forest Lawn Cemetery and south of Delaware Park Golf Course and the Buffalo Zoo. After entering an at-grade intersection with Parkside Avenue, NY 198 leaves Delaware Park and returns to a four-lane divided highway.
After the conversion, NY 198 interchanges with NY 5 (Main Street) just north of the Humboldt-Hospital station of Buffalo's Metro Rail. The expressway crosses under Kensington Avenue and continues southeast, entering the Masten section of Buffalo. There, NY 198 enters an interchange, merging, in both directions, with NY 33 (the Kensington Expressway). This merge marks the eastern terminus of the NY 198 designation.
History
The modern NY 198 corridor was originally served by Scajaquada Drive and Humboldt Parkway, two surface streets that linked Delaware Park to Humboldt Park (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Park). Scajaquada Drive began at Grant Street and went eastward through Delaware Park to Agassiz Circle. Here, it met Humboldt Parkway, which ran from NY 384 in Delaware Park to Fillmore Avenue at Humboldt Park by way of the modern Scajaquada and Kensington Expressway corridors. Construction of the Scajaquada Expressway began in the early 1960s. The first section of the freeway extended from Grant Street to Delaware Avenue and was completed by 1961. An extension west to the Niagara Thruway opened in 1962, at which time all of the expressways were designated as NY 198. The portion of Humboldt Parkway between Delaware Avenue and the Kensington Expressway was upgraded into a divided highway in the mid-1960s, at which time it became part of NY 198.