I-990 – Lockport Expressway

This is my favorite «expressway» in WNY. Probably because it’s rarely busy and the speed limit is 65 mph. It extends from Transit Road, on the border of Lockport, right by Niagara County Produce (which ironically is not really in Niagara County), to the area around UB North Campus.
A couple of issues with this stretch are:
–it’s bumpy, which at 65 mph makes for an adventurous ride… Make sure your shocks and struts are in good working order here.
–the exits come up quite abruptly… Put your turn signal on well in advance so the knucklehead tail gating (at 65 mph+) you can get over into one of 3 other lanes before you gently brake to make your turn to exit.

It’s been said that Lockport residents can get to downtown Buffalo in 13 minutes flat (with flat being the operative word, because Western NY really is, isn’t it). That would never be possible if it were not for the Lockport Expressway, also known as I-​990, also known as the «Road To Redemption», or «The Way, The Truth, and The Light.»
It’s a very pretty road, not pretty in a Jessica Alba way, but pretty in a Molly Ringwald way. You can do up to 110mph on this road, but not legally. Legally you are restricted to 65mph, and when it is icy and snowy, I recommend going even more slowerererer.
Each day 990 cars travel up and down it, and most of them live in Lockport (which got its name from what you should do if you live in a high crime area… Lock all Ports of entry to your house). This is where the number «990» came from. It is in no way related to the «99 position».
The only reason this road loses a star is because it’s a highway that never reached its full potential. It does speed the journey from the Northtowns to Lockport, and even from the rest of WNY to Lockport depending upon where you are coming from, but so few people use this road, that it seems lonely. What’s more, it winds a lot, so while it is the fastest way to Lockport in terms of speed, it is a couple of extra miles to some of the less windy routes, and by windy I mean shaking it like a proverbial salt shaker all over the suburban terrain, rather than the Chicago elements battering you from between the Willis and John Hancock Tower.
And if the John Hancock Tower is ever taken down brick by brick and rebuilt at the North end of this highway, then we will have to change the name of the town from Lockport to John Hancockport.