New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a long state highway in the U.S. state of New York. The western terminus of the route is at NY 104 in Niagara Falls. The eastern terminus is at NY 26 in the Vernon hamlet of Vernon Center. Over its routing, NY 31 spans 10 counties and indirectly connects three major urban areas in Upstate New York, namely Buffalo/Niagara Falls, Rochester, and Syracuse. The route is one of the longest routes in New York State, paralleling two similarly lengthy routes, NY 104 to the north and NY 5 to the south, as well as the Erie Canal, as it proceeds east.

NY 31 dates back to the 1920s, when it was to largely assigned to what is now NY 104 west of Rochester and its current alignment east of Rochester. With the advent of U.S. Route 104, NY 31 was realigned west of Rochester to follow its modern routing, and only minor realignments have occurred since.

Route description

NY 31 signage on I-190

Western New York

Route 31 begins at NY 104 in northern Niagara Falls. After a short distance eastward through the northern fringe of the city, the road encounters NY 61 and, to NY 61's northeast, I-190 at exit 24. Past I-190, NY 31 meets NY 265 south of the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant reservoir. At the intersection, NY 31 becomes Saunders Settlement Road, a name it retains for almost 15 miles. Continuing through Niagara County, Route 31 passes the south end of the Tuscarora Indian Reservation ahead of a brief overlap with NY 429. Past the east end of the concurrency, NY 429 travels north toward Route 104 while NY 31 continues east past Niagara County Community College to an intersection with NY 425, the final state route that NY 31 intersects before entering the Lockport area.

West of Lockport, NY 31 crosses NY 270 and NY 93. Continuing into the city, NY 31 meets NY 78 (Transit Road) at a unique intersection partially located over the Erie Canal. Route 31 heads eastward through Lockport, intersecting the northern terminus of NY 77 at the eastern edge of the city. While NY 77 continues along the right-of-way of NY 31, NY 31 exits, following a northeasterly alignment through Gasport to Middleport, where it acts as the western and southern terminus of NY 31E and NY 271, respectively. Just east of town, NY 31 crosses the first of nine county lines along its routing, entering Orleans County.

At an intersection south of Medina, NY 31A branches off, continuing straight from NY 31 while NY 31 turns north to overlap NY 63 for a short distance between NY 31A and NY 31E in Medina. At NY 31E, NY 31 separates from NY 63, following the path of NY 31E east out of the village. 10 miles to the east, Route 31 crosses NY 98 in Albion. Midway between Albion and Holley, NY 31 intersects the southern end of NY 387. NY 31 continues to the southeast, entering Holley and intersecting NY 237 in the village center. The route quickly leaves Holley soon after, crossing into Monroe County just over a mile from the village line.

Broad Street at PAETEC Park

Rochester area

West of Brockport, the road traverses the Erie Canal twice and passes the SUNY Brockport campus. Southwest of the campus, NY 31 reconnects to NY 31A and takes over its east-west alignment. Now as Fourth Section Road, NY 31 progresses eastward, intersecting NY 19 directly south of Brockport and becoming Brockport-Spencerport Road. East of the village in neighboring Sweden, NY 31 meets the southern terminus of NY 260. The route continues eastward, paralleling the Erie Canal as it enters Ogden, where NY 31 comes to the current western terminus of NY 531, the Spencerport Expressway, and, shortly after, the northern terminus of NY 36. Route 31, now sandwiched by the Canal to the north and NY 531 to the south, heads eastward, intersecting NY 259 in Spencerport and NY 386 in the Rochester suburb of Gates. Near the Rochester city line, delimited by the Erie Canal, which turns south here to bypass downtown, NY 31 interchanges with NY 390 immediately north of the route's interchange with Interstate 490. Route 31 then crosses the canal to the east of the interchange, entering the city of Rochester.

Route 31 enters the city as Lyell Avenue. After passing Mount Read Boulevard, NY 31 continues east to West Broad Street, where it turns south onto the road. The route then passes PAETEC Park to its east as it heads toward a pair of overpasses, one carrying Interstate 490 and another holding the CSX Rochester Subdivision. Route 31 continues under both, following the former path of the Erie Canal southeast through the city to the eastern terminus of NY 33 at West Main Street. NY 31 follows West Main to the east, passing under I-490 once again before breaking from West Main and occupying East Broad Street. The street proceeds to the east, passing through the commercial heart of the city. Just east of Exchange Boulevard, the northern terminus of NY 383, the route crosses the Genesee River on the Broad Street Aqueduct. East of the waterway, NY 31 follows East Broad to South Avenue, where it turns south for two blocks. It then turns east on Woodbury Boulevard and finally south on Chestnut Street. Westbound NY 31 in the area, however, follows Woodbury Boulevard to South Clinton Avenue, then Clinton to East Broad Street. At the Inner Loop, Chestnut Street becomes Monroe Avenue, the name NY 31 retains to Pittsford.

NY 31 in Brighton

In the village of Macedon, Route 31 meets the southern terminus of NY 350 and the eastern terminus of NY 31F. The highway then runs through the town of Macedon, bordered by the Erie Canal to the north and Ganargua Creek to the south. In Palmyra, NY 31 joins NY 21 through the center of the village. From Palmyra east, the route parallels the Erie Canal for a considerable distance. Between Palmyra and Newark, NY 31 dips into Ontario County for less than a mile before reentering Wayne County. In Newark, NY 31 intersects NY 88. Farther east, in Lyons, it crosses NY 14 and the Erie Canal. At Clyde, NY 31 briefly overlaps NY 414 in the center of the village. (NY 31 runs closely along the Erie Canal for much of the route between Palmyra and Clyde.) NY 31 then intersects NY 89 in Savannah, the final centralized community within Wayne County. The routes merge, forming a concurrency south to the Ontario-Wayne County line. Here, NY 89 turns west, straddling the line while NY 31 heads southeast into Seneca County and, after 1.5 miles, Cayuga County via a bridge over the Erie Canal.

Central New York

Shortly after entering Cayuga County, NY 31 crosses and begins to parallel the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90), which NY 31 does for most of its routing west of the outer Syracuse suburbs. In Port Byron, NY 31 intersects NY 38 in the center of the village. The routes embark on an overlap through the village before separating near the eastern edge of Port Byron. Route 31 continues alone to Weedsport, where the route meets NY 34 north of the village. East of Weedsport, NY 31 and the Thruway are joined by the CSX Rochester Subdivision mainline, which runs down the center of the strip of land created by the Thruway to the north and NY 31 to the south. Continuing into Onondaga County and the village of Jordan, NY 31 begins to make a turn northward while connecting to the northern end of NY 317 (the former northern terminus of NY 31C) a short distance north of the village center. With the turn complete, NY 31 traverses the CSX mainline and the Thruway via successive overpasses before returning to level ground and resuming an eastward alignment in the shadow of the Thruway. Once inside the limits of Van Buren, NY 31 separates from the Thruway, curving north and intersecting the western terminus of NY 173 in quick succession.

Western terminus of the NY 31/NY 38 overlap

East of Bridgeport, NY 31 moves closer to Oneida Lake, eventually coming to within 200 yards of the lakeshore at points. Near the eastern edge of Oneida Lake, NY 31 intersects NY 13 in the hamlet of South Bay. To the east, NY 31 meets the northern terminus of NY 316 at a junction adjacent to the Oneida County line, again marked by a body of water, the Oneida Creek. NY 31 traverses the creek and proceeds eastward through the Oneida County town of Verona. Northeast of Oneida, NY 31 intersects NY 46 adjacent to the path of the old routing of the Erie Canal. Farther east, Route 31 intersects NY 365 just north of its interchange with the Thruway. The Turning Stone Resort & Casino, located two miles south of the intersection, is accessible via NY 365. Past NY 365, NY 31 passes over the Thruway (I-90) for the final time. The route continues southeast into Vernon, where NY 31 intersects NY 5 in the village of the same name. NY 31 joins NY 5 eastward for just over a half-mile before splitting and following County Road 81 south. NY 31 becomes overlapped with county routes for the remainder of its routing, following CR 81 south, with Vernon Downs Racetrack located to the direct east, then CR 13 east to a traffic circle with NY 26 in Vernon Center, where NY 31 comes to an end.

History

NY 31 was signed as early as 1926 and initially followed an alignment similar to its current routing. Between Niagara Falls and Sanborn, the alignment of NY 31 was identical to that of the route today. At what is now the eastern junction with NY 429, NY 31 split from its modern routing and followed the path of NY 429 north to modern-day NY 104 (Ridge Road) in Porter. NY 31 turned east, remaining on Ridge Road through the remainder of Niagara County, the entirety of Orleans County, and western Monroe County.^[1] Within the city of Rochester, NY 31 continued east on Ridge Road to Lake Avenue, where it turned south to enter downtown Rochester, becoming State Street at Lyell Avenue. At East Main Street, NY 31 resumed its eastward alignment, crossing the Genesee River and continuing on Main to Monroe Avenue, which, at the time, connected directly with Main. NY 31 turned right on Monroe, rejoining the present alignment of NY 31 near Union Street.^[2] East of Rochester, NY 31 followed its current alignment to Baldwinsville, where the route entered the village on Downer Street and modern NY 48 in the absence of NY 690. Outside of the village, NY 31 remained on its current routing to what is now NY 316 in Lenox. Here, NY 31 broke from its modern path and followed the current NY 316 and part of NY 46 into Oneida, where it terminated at NY 5.^[1][3]

From Lockport to Rochester, except for segments near Gasport, Albion, and Brockport, what is now NY 31 was originally designated as NY 3 in 1924.^[4] The remaining portions of modern NY 31 not part of then-NY 3 or then-NY 31 were unnumbered.^[1][3]

In the 1930 renumbering, NY 31 west of modern NY 429 in Niagara County was rerouted onto Ridge Road, moving the western terminus north to Lewiston. NY 3 was realigned as well, occupying what is now NY 31 west to Niagara Falls. Additionally, NY 3 was moved near Albion, placing NY 3 on the current routing of NY 31 in the area. The remainder of NY 31 east to Lenox remained unchanged;^[5] however, at Lenox, NY 31 was rerouted to follow its modern alignment to NY 365 near Oneida, while the former alignment from Lenox to Oneida became NY 316.^[5] In 1934, Ridge Road became part of U.S. Route 104, causing NY 31 to be rerouted onto the former alignment of NY 3 from Niagara Falls to Rochester. NY 3 was then truncated to a location in central New York.

By 1946, what is now NY 31 from NY 365 to Vernon Center was designated New York State Route 234.^[6] On April 1, 1981, NY 234 was decommissioned and replaced with an extended NY 31.^[7]

Between 1978 and 1985, NY 31 was moved onto its current alignment southwest of Brockport, bypassing the village and eliminating an overlap with NY 19.^[8][9] Later, between 1985 and 1995, NY 31 was rerouted in Baldwinsville to follow its current alignment along NY 690 and NY 370.^[9][10]

Suffixed routes

NY 31 has had as many as six suffixed routes; three have since been removed.

• NY 31A (^[11]) is an alternate route of NY 31 between Medina and Brockport in Orleans and Monroe County Counties. The route bypasses Medina, Albion, and Holley to the south via Clarendon.
• NY 31B was a route leading from NY 31 in Weedsport, Cayuga County to NY 5 in Elbridge, Onondaga County. The designation was removed in 1980; however, the portion within Cayuga County is now designated as County Route 31B.
• NY 31C was a connector from NY 31 in Jordan to NY 5 in Elbridge. It was removed in 2003 and largely replaced by NY 317.
• NY 31D was a spur that extended from NY 237 in Clarendon to NY 31 south of Brockport. The route eventually became the easternmost portion of NY 31A.
• NY 31E () is an alternate route of NY 31 between Middleport, Niagara County and Medina, Orleans County.
• NY 31F (^[11]) is an alternate route of NY 31 that extends from NY 96 in Pittsford, Monroe County, to NY 31 in Macedon, Wayne County. The route bypasses Pittsford and southern Perinton to serve East Rochester and Fairport.

Major intersections

References

External links

• New York Routes - New York State Route 31