Day: September 2, 2025

In 1944 there was a proposal to create a Lake Ontario State Parkway. It was to be part of the Seaway Trail project. The parkway was to extend from Charlotte Beach in Rochester, through Monroe, Orleans, and Niagara Counties and end at Niagara Falls. When the Robert Moses State Parkway was proposed, the western terminus was moved north to Fort Niagara.

The construction of the Lake Ontario State Parkway began in the late 1940s, with the first section opening in the early 1950s, linking the Hamlin Beach State Park to NY 261 (Manitou Road). The section through Greece to Charlotte was built in stages during the 1950s and 1960s. The portion between Hamlin Beach state park and Lakeside Beach State Park was planned in the ’60s and finished in 1972. Officially opening February 16, 1973.

There was a US Supreme Court ruling in 1964, that caused Counties to lose their representation in the Assembly. That ruling began to take a toll fairly quickly. With the NYS Legislature putting its focus on the seven counties downstate, the parkway was abandoned, half-finished. Little focus was ever again placed on the Lake Ontario State Parkway, at least not for the next 56 years.

It wasn’t until the Lake Ontario Parkway began to be an eyesore and embarrassment, and even a safety hazard, that the state made any effort to make repairs. The parkway was in such disrepair that drivers had to slow to 35-40 MPH, slower in some places, or risk serious damage to their vehicles. Many users preferred driving on the shoulder rather than over the broken parkway pavement. In 2017, the parkway from Route 19 east to Payne Beach was repaved (approximately 8 miles). In 2018, seven miles from Route 19 to Route 237 were repaved, but the shoulders in this stretch narrowed from 12 to 8 feet.

As of today, about 12 miles of the western end of the parkway is in poor condition. The only consideration actually keeping that stretch open is that it is treated as a sessonal highway and is viewed as a historical landmark. With serious deterioration, lack of state funding, failure to complete the parkway to Fort Niagara, and no plans on the books, the Lake Ontario Parkway has become a highway to nowhere.

Source: https://www.glogowskiforassembly.com/a-road-to-no-where/

15 years ago, I drove the Lake Ontario State Parkway. It was in bad shape back then, but was an extremely pleasant drive for the rural country with almost no traffic on it if you didn't mind the repeated bumps of the 50 year old, rarely repaired pavement.