New York State Route 98 (NY 98) is a state highway in the western part of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in the town of Great Valley in Cattaraugus County. The northern end is at an interchange with the Lake Ontario State Parkway in the town of Carlton in Orleans County, near the southern shore of Lake Ontario. In between, NY 98 serves the city of Batavia, connects to the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90 or I-90), and passes by the Attica Correctional Facility. Most of the route passes through rural, undeveloped areas; however, in southern Genesee County, it traverses more urbanized areas that lie in and around Batavia.
Most of modern NY 98 north of Batavia was originally designated as New York State Route 74 in the mid-1920s. It was extended south to US 20 (now US 20A) in Varysburg in the late 1920s. NY 98, meanwhile, was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, utilizing NY 74 north of Varysburg and its modern alignment south of the hamlet. Initially, it followed what is now US 219 into Salamanca and ended at NY 18 in Carlton. The extension into Salamanca was eliminated in the 1960s, while the route was extended north to meet the Lake Ontario Parkway in the 1970s. Other changes, including a pair of substantial realignments, have also occurred in the time since the route was originally assigned.
Route description
Most of NY 98 is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation. The only non-state-maintained section of the route lies within the city of Batavia, where the route is locally maintained from the southern city line to the south end of the overlap with NY 33.
Great Valley to Arcade
NY 98 begins at an intersection with US 219 in Great Valley, a hamlet located northeast of Salamanca in the town of Great Valley. The route heads northeast across Cattaraugus County, paralleling Forks Creek through northeast Great Valley and the northwestern corner of Humphrey to the town of Franklinville. The creek ends southwest of the village of Franklinville; however, NY 98 continues northeast for an additional across sparsely populated areas to the hamlet of Cadiz, where it intersects NY 16 just south of Franklinville. Here, NY 98 joins NY 16 northward through the village to the town of Farmersville, where the two routes split.
East of NY 16, NY 98 continues generally northeastward across rural terrain through the hamlets of Farmersville and Farmersville Station to an isolated junction east of the latter, where NY 98 intersects NY 243 at a T-intersection. While NY 243 leaves to the right (east), NY 98 turns left, initially heading northwest before curving to the north as it crosses into the town of Freedom. The route initially heads north toward the hamlet of the same name in the northeastern corner of the county, but ultimately bypasses the hamlet to the west to follow Clear Creek into Sandusky, the last settlement on NY 98 within the county. At the hamlet, NY 98 turns back to the northwest and crosses into Wyoming County and the town of Arcade.
Across the county line, the amount of development along the route increases as NY 98 enters the village of Arcade on Liberty Street. In the center of the village, NY 98 turns east to overlap with NY 39 for two long blocks along Main Street. The two routes split at Water Street, with NY 98 following the street northward across Cattaraugus Creek to a junction with North Street in the lightly populated northern portion of the village. At this point, Water Street merges into North Street, and the latter parallels the Arcade and Attica Railroad (ARA) and Cattaraugus Creek as it carries NY 98 northeastward out of the village. NY 98 follows the creek to an area of farmlands known as Arcade Center, where the route and the railroad both turn north toward Java, a mostly rural town dominated by farmland.