New York State Route 96

New York State Route 96
NY 96 highlighted in red and NY 960H in blue
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and the cities of Ithaca and Rochester
Length	126.01 mi[1] (202.79 km)
Existed	1942[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	Future I-86 / NY 17 / Southern Tier Expressway / NY 434 in Owego
Major intersections	NY 13 / NY 34 / NY 79 in Ithaca US 20 / NY 5 in Waterloo I-90 / New York Thruway / NY 21 in Manchester I-90 / New York Thruway / I-490 in Victor
North end	East Main Street in Rochester
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
Counties	Tioga, Tompkins, Seneca, Ontario, Monroe
Highway system
New York Highways Interstate US State Reference Parkways
← NY 95 → NY 96A

New York State Route 96 (NY 96) is a 126.01-mile-long (202.79 km) northwest–southeast state highway in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an interchange with NY 17 (Future I-86) in the Southern Tier village of Owego, Tioga County. Its northern terminus is at a junction with East Main Street in the city of Rochester, Monroe County.^[3] Between the two endpoints, NY 96 passes through the city of Ithaca and the villages of Waterloo, Victor, and Pittsford. NY 96 is signed north–south for its entire length, although most of the route in Ontario County travels in an east–west direction.

All of NY 96, except from Candor to Ithaca and from northwest of Victor to Pittsford, was originally designated as part of New York State Route 15 in 1924. NY 15 was originally routed on modern NY 96B between Candor and Ithaca, and modern NY 64 and NY 251 between Victor and Pittsford. It was realigned onto the modern alignment of NY 96 between Victor and Pittsford in 1930. NY 15 was renumbered to New York State Route 2 c. 1939 to eliminate duplication with U.S. Route 15 (US 15). NY 2 was subsequently redesignated as NY 96 in 1942 as the alignments of NY 2 and NY 96, a route in Rensselaer County, were swapped. NY 96 was realigned again in the early 1950s, this time between Candor and Ithaca, to serve the village of Spencer west of Candor. Near Rochester, NY 96 followed what is now Interstate 490 (I-490) for a short time during the 1950s and early 1960s. The 2017 route log erroneously shows that NY 96's northern terminus ends at Union Street.^[4] Whether by accident or as a prank, there is occasionally a route sign that was installed upside down. You can notice this when you see the white shield that surrounds the "96" with its point on the top.