New York State Route 182 - History

History

Porter Road, the east–west highway that comprises two-thirds of NY 182's length, originally went no farther east than New Road, a north–south street just inside the eastern city limits of Niagara Falls. In 1926, the New York State Department of Highways began developing plans to extend Porter Road southeast to Niagara Falls Boulevard (then-NY 34). The impetus for building the new state-maintained road was the presence of grade crossings on Lockport Road, a parallel road to the north that was the primary highway from Niagara Falls to Lockport at the time. By completing the extension, the crossings could be avoided by using Porter and Packard roads to connect to Lockport Road east of the city. The first leg of the extension, an east–west segment linking the city portion of Porter Road to Military Road in Niagara, was completed by mid-1929.

Niagara Falls International Airport, located on Niagara Falls Boulevard near the proposed east end of the Porter Road extension, was officially opened on June 13, 1929, as part of a city-wide festival. Two months later, Niagara Falls City Manager W.D. Robbins indicated that the state had planned to construct the rest of the Porter Road extension in 1930, providing the city with another route to the new airport. By the following October, most of the extension was completed save for the bridge traversing Cayuga Creek. The overpass over the creek was finished by 1932, and Porter Road was designated as NY 18D c. 1932. While state maintenance of Porter Road was confined to the part outside of Niagara Falls, NY 18D continued westward through the city to the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge by way of several city-maintained streets. The designation of the route was changed to NY 182 when NY 18 was truncated to US 104 (now NY 104) in Lewiston c. 1962.