New Thruway exit a possibility in Lancaster

There is a 17 mile stretch of the New York State Thruway between the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, and the Six Flags Darien Lake amusement park that could be split in half soon with a new exit in Lancaster.

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An idea that was originally proposed by Lancaster Town Supervisor Ronald Ruffino Sr. years ago when he was a Town Council member, has resurfaced as there is now an active push for a new Thruway exit to be constructed between the Transit Road exit in Depew, and the exit in Pembroke.  The proposed new exit would be located at Gunnville Road, next to the Lancaster National Speedway.

Recently, the Lancaster Town Board reached out to the Greater-Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council to rekindle the project that was first proposed years ago.  That area has seen an increase in traffic over the past few years with the addition of an Amazon facility.

Ruffino said:

As you know, we have the Tops warehouse right there, and there’s Amazon on Walden Avenue, so to have something like this would basically keep these trucks off of our roads

Roads like Genesee Street and Main street have seen an increase in truck traffic over recent years, and the proposed on-ramp/off-ramp would help to alleviate some of the commercial traffic that has been bogging down town roads of late.

The last time that the new interchange was proposed was before the advent of the state's cashless tolling system on the thruway. This could be a checkmark in the favor of its construction this time around, as there would not be a cost associated with building a toll plaza.

This won't happen overnight, as the process to approve/construct a new exit on the thruway is a lengthy one.  But, the conversation has started again, and it could be in Lancaster's future.