Interstate 990

Interstate 990
Staff Sergeant William R. Wilson III Memorial Highway Lockport Expressway
I-990 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-90
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length	6.35 mi[1] (10.22 km)
Existed	January 1979[2]–present
History	First section opened in 1980s[3][4]
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-290 in Amherst
North end	NY 263 in Amherst
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
Counties	Erie
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future New York Highways Interstate US State Reference Parkways
← NY 962J → NY 990L

Interstate 990 (I-990) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway located entirely within the town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, in the United States. It runs in a roughly north–south direction for 6.35 miles (10.22 km) through the southwestern and central parts of Amherst from an interchange with I-290 north of Buffalo to an intersection with New York Route 263 (NY 263, named Millersport Highway) south of Lockport. The highway serves as a connection between Buffalo, the University at Buffalo, and Lockport (via NY 263 and NY 78). Like I-590 in nearby Rochester, I-990 does not physically meet I-90, its parent Interstate Highway; instead, the highway makes the connection by way of a "sibling" highway (I-290). I-990 is the highest numbered Interstate Highway in the US.

Plans for an expressway between Buffalo and Lockport were proposed as early as the late 1960s. As originally laid out, the highway would run for 12 miles (19 km) and end in Lockport's eastern suburbs. By the time the road was added to the Interstate Highway System and designated I-990 in 1979, the proposal had been scaled back to a four-mile (6.4 km) freeway linking I-290 to North French Road. The route was constructed and opened to traffic in two stages during the 1980s. An extension to NY 263 was finished in 1990 and officially added to I-990 three years later.