New York State Route 90 (NY 90) is a north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York (state), New York, in the United States. This region straddles th ...

region of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in the United States. All but five of the route's are located in

Cayuga County Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Native American tribes in the Iroq ...

, with the remaining situated in

Cortland County Cortland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population of Cortland County was 46,809. The county seat is Cortland. The county is named after Pierre Van Cortlandt, president of the convention a ...

. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 11 (US 11) and NY 41 in the village of Homer. Its northern terminus is at a junction with

NY 31 New York State Route 31 (NY 31) is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 104 in the city of Niagara Falls. Its ...

in the town of Montezuma. Although the route is signed as north–south, the portion of NY 90 from King Ferry to Homer follows an east–west alignment. It is not to be confused with

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mou ...

(I-90), which also passes through Montezuma. The two 90s in fact cross, the only time when two same numbered highways intersect in the state, but there is no access between them.

Route description

Homer to Ledyard

NY 90 begins at an intersection with US 11 and NY 41 in the village of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

. NY 90 proceeds westward along Cayuga Street through the residential center of the village, crossing an intersection with NY 281 (South West Street). After NY 281, NY 90 turns northwest past Glenwood Cemetery and out of the village of Homer into the town of

. The route becomes a more rural roadway, soon running along the New York State Route 90 Scenic Byway, turning southwest into a junction with Kinney Gulf Road ( CR 111). After a short dart to the southwest, NY 90 leaves

for

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada *Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...

. Now in the town of Summerhill, the route bends westward near a junction with Hinman Road ( CR 163). After crossing over a creek, the route passes the southern terminus of Lake Como Road ( CR 62C). NY 90 continues west through the rural town of Summerhill, passing numerous farms before bending southwest into the residential hamlet of Summerhill. At the center of the hamlet, the route reaches a junction with Salt Road ( CR 102). Turning northwest out of Summerhill hamlet, the route reaches a junction with Chipmans Corners Road ( CR 161). Now in the town of Locke, NY 90 proceeds northwest past the southern terminus of Toll Gate Road ( CR 54) before gaining the moniker of Water Street as the route enters the hamlet of Locke. The main west–east street through Locke, NY 90 junctions with

NY 38 New York State Route 38 (NY 38) is a north–south state highway in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with NY 96 in the town of Owego in Tioga County. The nor ...

(Main Street). NY 90 makes a sharp bend to the southwest, keeping the Water Street until leaving the hamlet of Locke at Maple Avenue. Winding southwest out of Locke, NY 90 parallels Hemlock Creek past a junction with Bird Cemetery Road ( CR 51). The route then continues southwest past Goodrich Hill Road ( CR 160) and soon bends westward for a short distance. Soon turning to the northwest, the route climbs the hills towards the hamlet of Goosetree. Just east of Goosetree, the route turns northward at a junction with Goose Street ( CR 159) before crossing into the town of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Running north through Genoa, NY 90 crosses west through the hamlet of Pine Hollow. The two-lane rural roadway continues west past the northern terminus of East Genoa Road ( CR 26E). Passing south of Genoa Rural Cemetery and soon reaching the hamlet of Genoa, where the route junctions with

NY 34 New York State Route 34 (NY 34) is a north–south New York state route located in Central New York. Its southern terminus is at the Pennsylvania state line in the village of Waverly, where it connects to Pennsylvania Route&n ...

at the easternmost end of the community. Crossing west through the residential hamlet, NY 90 crosses Maple Street at the center, leaving just west of North Street. Crossing west through the town of Genoa, NY 90 crosses a junction with Indian Field Road ( CR 34) and past some residences in Little Hollow. Crossing west out of Little Hollow, the route reaches the hamlet of King Ferry, where NY 90 becomes a two-lane residential street into a junction with NY 34B. West of NY 34B, NY 90 crosses west through the residential edges of King Ferry before reaching a junction with Clearview Road ( CR 31B), where it turns northwestward through the town of Genoa before leaving the community for the town of Ledyard. Crossing northwest through Ledyard, NY 90 passes numerous farms as it nears the eastern shores of

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (, or ) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and i ...

Ledyard to Montezuma

Continuing northwest, NY 90 crosses past the western terminus of Ledyard Road ( CR 45A). The route bends east of Long Point State Park-Cayuga Lake. Reaching a junction with Lake Road, the route crosses into the village of

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

, a lakeside area along NY 90. Running along the eastern shores of Cayuga Lake, NY 90 crosses through the campus of

Wells College Wells College was a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York, a village in the Finger Lakes region of the state. From its founding in 1868 until it became coeducational in 2005, Wells was a women's college. The college maintained acad ...

and becomes a two-lane residential lakeside roadway. Crossing through the center of Aurora, NY 90 gains the Main Street moniker and turning northward along the shoreline. The route soon leaves Aurora for the town of Ledyard once again, reaching the hamlet of Levanna. Through Levanna, NY 90 is a two-lane residential roadway, passing a junction with the western terminus of Levanna Road ( CR 44A). Turning northeast out of Levanna, NY 90 parallels the Cayuga Lake shoreline as a two-lane rural roadway. Just north of Great Gully Cove Road, the route enters the town of Springport, winding northward through the hamlet of Farleys before reaching the village of Union Springs. Through Union Springs, NY 90 gains the moniker of South Cayuga Street, becoming a two-lane residential/commercial street through the village. Passing east of a pond, the route continues north through Union Springs, now boasting the North Cayuga Street moniker until a junction with the western terminus of NY 326 and back into the town of Springport. Continuing north through Springport, NY 90 becomes a rural roadway along Cayuga Lake again, reaching the hamlet of Cross Roads. Soon crossing into the town of

Aurelius The gens Aurelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which flourished from the third century BC to the latest period of the Empire. The first of the Aurelian gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 252 BC. From then to the ...

, NY 90 crosses over railroad tracks and begin paralleling them past a junction with Lake Road ( CR 2A). Passing the entrance into Lakeview Cemetery, NY 90 enters the village of

. Running north along Court Street, NY 90 runs along the eastern end of the village, changing names to Willard Street at Genesee Street, soon returning to the shoreline and soon back into the town of Aurelius. Running north along the shoreline, NY 90 continues through Aurelius, passing numerous lakeside communities before winding north into the town of Montezuma. In Montezuma, NY 90 reaches a junction with US 20 and

NY 5 New York State Route 5 (NY 5) is a state highway that extends for 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, Syra ...

(Clark Street Road). Continuing northward as the county line approaches, NY 90 parallels it on a northeastward trek through Montezuma. Turning northward, the route comes within feet of the

New York State Thruway The New York State Thruway (officially the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway and colloquially "the Thruway") is a system of controlled-access toll roads spanning within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway ...

(

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

) and bends eastward as it crosses on a parallel for several blocks. Reaching a junction with Fuller Road ( CR 142), where NY 90 turns northward and crosses over the Thruway. North of the Thruway, NY 90 crosses through the hamlet of Montezuma, and reaches a junction with

. This junction marks as the northern terminus of NY 90, which continues north of NY 31 toward Fox Ridge.

History

The earliest predecessor to NY 90 was the fifth segment of the

Great Western Turnpike The Great Western Turnpike was a series of east–west toll roads that crossed part of New York in the United States. The toll roads that carried this name were: *The First Great Western Turnpike, extending from Albany to Cherry Valley over a path ...

, chartered in 1814 to run from

. At its western terminus, ferries took travellers to points opposite on the lake. NY 90 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. It originally began at US 11 in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Messengerville and passed through

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, Cortland to King Ferry, where it ran along the eastern edge of

to its terminus at

in Montezuma. In Cortland, NY 90 had an

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...

with NY 13 along Tompkins Street from Owego Street to Main Street. At Main Street, NY 90 turned north to follow US 11 and NY 41 to

, where NY 90 split from the two routes and headed west toward

. In the early 1980s, the state of

assumed maintenance of an east–west highway connecting NY 90 in Virgil to the village of Dryden. Around the same time, NY 90 was truncated on its southern end to its junction with US 11 and NY 41 in Homer. The Dryden–Virgil highway and NY 90's former routing from Virgil to Messengerville became

NY 392 New York State Route 392 (NY 392) is an east–west state highway in the Southern Tier region of New York (state), New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with the concurrency (road), con ...

; from Virgil to Cortland, old NY 90 was redesignated as

NY 215 New York State Route 215 (NY 215) is a north–south state highway located entirely within Cortland County, New York, in the United States. It extends for just over from an intersection with NY 392 in the town of Virgil to a ju ...

. Today, at least two signs showing NY 90 signed concurrently with US 11 and NY 41 still exist in the village of Homer as remnants of its former southward extension.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:New York State Route 090

090 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

Transportation in Cayuga County, New York Transportation in Cortland County, New York