U.S. Route 20A (New York)

U.S. Route 20A (New York)

U.S. Route 20A (US 20A) is an east–west alternate route of US 20 that extends for 83.59 miles (134.53 km) across the western portion of New York in the United States. It leaves US 20 in Hamburg, a suburb of Buffalo, and rejoins it in East Bloomfield about five miles (8 km) west of Canandaigua, the county seat of Ontario County. The western terminus is situated just northeast of the intersection of US 20 and US 62 and west of Ralph Wilson Stadium. At its east end, US 20A also meets New York State Route 5 (NY 5) and NY 64. Most of the route is known as Big Tree Road; outside Ralph Wilson Stadium, the highway is known as the Timothy J. Russert Highway in memory of Buffalo native Tim Russert.

While the main line of US 20 takes a direct path between Hamburg, Buffalo, and East Bloomfield via Avon, US 20A veers to the south to serve several villages and hamlets, including the villages of Geneseo and Warsaw. The town of Attica, famous for the Attica Prison riots of 1971, lies between US 20 and US 20A. As the route heads east, US 20A connects to several north–south freeways, such as NY 400 outside of East Aurora and Interstate 390 (I-390) between Geneseo and Lakeville. Outside of the communities that dot the highway, US 20A is a two-lane, rural highway.

The highway carried several designations prior to becoming US 20A c. 1939. In the mid-1920s, the section of modern US 20A from East Aurora to Lakeville was part of New York State Route 35. US 20 was first signed in New York in 1927, occupying the piece of NY 35 between East Aurora and Geneseo and all of what is now US 20A west of East Aurora upon assignment. It was altered to also use the Geneseo–Lakeville section of former NY 35 in the early 1930s. At the time, the section of current US 20A between US 20 and Bristol was designated as New York State Route 254. US 20 was realigned onto its current alignment between Hamburg and Avon c. 1938, and US 20A was assigned to US 20's former routing west of Lakeville and all of NY 254 by the following year.