This article is about the current alignment of NY 391. For the former alignment of NY 391 in Seneca County, see New York State Route 391 (1936-1970s).
New York State Route391 (NY391) is a short state highway in Erie County, New York, in the United States. The route is signed as north–south; however, it follows more of a southeast–northwest alignment between NY277 in the hamlet of North Boston and U.S. Route62 (US62) in the village of Hamburg. NY391 meets the Southern Expressway (US219) just north of North Boston. Both ends of NY391 are located in residential areas; however, the middle section of the route passes through more rural areas of the towns of Boston and Hamburg.
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New York State Route 391
Map of the Buffalo area with NY391 highlighted in red
The routing of NY391 has been part of several routes over the years, beginning with NY62 in 1930. NY62 was mostly renumbered to NY75 c.1932, and all of NY75 south of Hamburg became concurrent to US219 when it was extended into New York c.1935. NY75 was cut back to Hamburg by 1940, leaving just US219 on modern NY391. US219 was realigned north of North Boston in the early 1970s to follow other routes north to meet the first completed piece of the Southern Expressway near Orchard Park. NY391 was assigned to US219's former routing into Hamburg at this time. The route originally ended two blocks to the west at the junction of NY75 and US62; however, this extension was eliminated c.2004.
Route description
NY391 begins at an intersection with NY277 (Herman Hill Road) in North Boston, a hamlet within the town of Boston. It heads to the northwest as Boston State Road, passing by suburban homes as it approaches the Southern Expressway (US219). The two highways meet by way of a diamond interchange. West of the exit, NY391's surroundings become more rural as it enters the town of Hamburg, where it passes by open fields and a handful of houses.[3]
The route follows Eighteen Mile Creek northwest and west toward the village of Hamburg, where the amount of development along the highway increases significantly. At McKinley Parkway (County Route204), NY391 becomes East Main Street and begins to pass through the outskirts of the village. It officially enters Hamburg upon intersecting Sunnyside Drive two blocks to the west. The route continues into the village center, passing by commercial and residential buildings on its way to a roundabout at Buffalo Street, where it meets US62. At this point, NY391 comes to an end while US62 turns west onto Main Street from Buffalo Street.[3]
History
What is now NY391 was originally designated as part of NY62, a highway extending from Great Valley north to Buffalo, in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York.[4][5]US62 was extended into New Yorkc.1932; as a result, all of NY62 south of Athol Springs was redesignated as NY75 to eliminate numerical duplication with the U.S. Highway.[6][7]US219 was extended into New York c.1935, overlapping NY75 between Great Valley and Hamburg.[8][9] The overlap was eliminated by 1940 following the truncation of NY75 to what had been the west end of its overlap with US62 through Hamburg.[10]
An extension of the freeway south to NY391 near North Boston opened in the mid-1970s, resulting in a slight, temporary truncation of NY391 to the end of the freeway.[13][14] Another extension of the expressway south to Springville was completed in the early 1980s. It became part of US219 upon opening; at the same time, NY391 was reextended to NY277 in North Boston.[15][16] The remainder of US219's former routing south to Springville was transferred to Erie County upon the completion of the Springville–Buffalo segment of the Southern Expressway.[17] Originally, NY391 terminated at NY75 in Hamburg, resulting in an extraneous overlap with US62 for two blocks along Main Street. NY391 was truncated to the eastern end of the concurrency c.2004.[18][19]