New York State Route 5

New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for 370.80 miles (596.74 km) across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, and several other smaller cities and communities on its way to downtown Albany in Albany County, where it terminates at U.S. Route 9 (US 9), here routed along the service roads for Interstate 787 (I-787). Prior to the construction of the New York State Thruway, it was one of two main east–west highways traversing upstate New York, the other being US 20. West of New York, the road continues as Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) to Erie.

NY 5 overlaps with US 20 twice along its routing. The second, a 68-mile (109 km) overlap through western and central New York, is the second-longest concurrency in the state, stretching from Avon in Livingston County east to the city of Auburn in Cayuga County. The concurrency is known locally as "Routes 5 and 20". As the route proceeds across the state, it also directly or indirectly meets every major north–south highway in upstate New York, including all three north–south Interstate Highways (I-390 in Avon, I-81 in Syracuse via US 11, and I-87 in Albany).

NY 5 was assigned in 1924 as a true cross-state highway, extending from the Pennsylvania state line in the west to the Massachusetts state line in the east, mostly by way of modern US 20. At the time, modern NY 5 between Buffalo and Albany was designated as New York State Route 5A. By 1926, NY 5 was moved onto the routing of NY 5A while the old routing of NY 5 became NY 7. It was truncated in 1927 to Athol Springs in the west and Albany in the east following the assignment of US 20, and again in 1930 to downtown Buffalo. NY 5 was reextended to the Pennsylvania state line c. 1932 by way of its old routing to Athol Springs, an old alignment of US 20, and a lakeside spur route of US 20 that had been assigned in 1930. Only local realignments have occurred since.

Although it is no longer commonly used for long-distance travel, NY 5 is still regionally important. NY 5 is named Main Street in Buffalo, Erie Boulevard and West Genesee Street in Syracuse, State Street in Schenectady, and Central Avenue in Albany, the state capital. It is a major local road in many other locations along its path. NY 5 runs concurrent to US 20 twice between its endpoints: for three miles (5  km) between Silver Creek and Irving and for 68 miles (109 km) across western and central New York. At 67.6 miles (108 km) in length, the eastern overlap between US 20 and NY 5 is the second-longest surface-road concurrency in New York state, behind only the concurrency of I-86 and NY 17 in the Southern Tier.

Maintenance of the majority of NY 5's 371 miles (597 km) is performed by the New York State Department of Transportation. However, locally owned and maintained sections exist in six cities. The city-maintained sections of NY 5 are in Buffalo from NY 16 north to the city line (except of the Goodell Street portion, which is state-maintained); in Syracuse between the western city line and just west of NY 635; in Utica from Leland Avenue east to the city line; in Amsterdam between Division and West Main streets; in Schenectady from Washington Avenue to the eastern city line; and the entirety of NY 5 within Albany.

At the New York–Pennsylvania border in Ripley, PA 5 becomes NY 5 upon entering New York. It very closely follows the shore of Lake Erie through all of Chautauqua County. Once reaching the village of Silver Creek it briefly overlaps US 20 until entering Erie County at the Cattaraugus Reservation and NY 438 where the roads once again split. Once in Erie County, it pulls slightly inward from the lake shore from Brant to the hamlet of Wanakah. Once past Wanakah, the road once again closely borders the lake shore and goes through steadily more heavily developed areas, particularly the Ford Stamping Plant and the Bethlehem Steel plant in the city of Lackawanna. There the road becomes the Hamburg Turnpike and eight wind-powered turbines, which provide power to the national grid, are visible. Near the northern edge of the city, NY 5 begins to ascend onto an elevated roadway as it connects to Ridge Road and the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens by way of an interchange. Here, the route becomes the a limited-access highway with exits for Ohio and Tifft streets and Fuhrmann Boulevard. After a quarter-mile, NY 5 passes seamlessly into the city of Buffalo.

A short distance past the city line, NY 5 passes over the Union Ship Canal on a span of the elevated road known as the Father Baker Bridge. North of the waterway, the elevated section of NY 5 gains a frontage road named Fuhrmann Boulevard. Both the service road and NY 5 run parallel to Lake Erie until the northern end of the Buffalo Outer Harbor. Here, the frontage roads end while NY 5 turns to the northeast, crossing the Buffalo River on the bridge called The Skyway, and entering downtown. On the north bank, the Skyway returns to a northerly routing as it passes KeyBank Center, located directly to the east, and Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, situated to the west, and meets I-190 at exit 7. Past the interchange, the Skyway ends and the route descends in elevation, becoming an at-grade roadway once more at Church Street in the shadow of Buffalo City Hall. NY 384 begins here, following Delaware Avenue north into the heart of downtown, while NY 5 turns east onto Church.

At Main Street, Church Street splits into a pair of one-way streets and becomes North and South Division Street. The route follows South Division eastward for two blocks to an intersection with Ellicott Street located one block north of Sahlen Field. At the junction, which includes the northern terminus of NY 16, NY 5 turns northward, rejoining NY 5 westbound one block later at North Division. The route continues on Ellicott for nine blocks to the unidirectional East Tupper Street, where NY 5 westbound separates from the route once more. NY 5 eastbound, however, continues north on Ellicott for an additional block to the one-way Goodell Street. NY 5 heads west on Goodell for two blocks before turning north onto Main Street, rejoining NY 5 westbound at the intersection.