Two expressways shape driving in the middle of Buffalo. The Scajaquada, Route 198, cuts through Delaware Park just north of the Elmwood Village, linking the 190 to the Kensington. The Kensington Expressway, Route 33, runs from downtown out through the East Side toward the airport. Both were built in the mid-20th century through neighborhoods and parkland, and both have tight ramps, short merges and a long history of serious crashes.
What makes the Scajaquada different?
The 198 doesn’t behave like a normal expressway. It runs through a park, past the Buffalo History Museum, the Albright-Knox (now the Buffalo AKG Art Museum) and Buffalo State. Ramps at Elmwood, Parkside and Delaware are short. After a 2015 crash in which a car left the roadway and killed a young child in Delaware Park, the State sharply lowered the speed limit and has worked on plans to turn the road into more of a boulevard. Drivers who treat it like the 190 run into trouble, especially at the curves near Delaware Avenue.
What makes the Kensington different?
The 33 carries commuters, airport traffic and trucks through a sunken trench on the East Side, with on-ramps and off-ramps close together. The State’s project to cap part of the trench means lane shifts and work zones during construction. Work zone crashes raise their own questions, like whether the contractor’s signs, barriers and lane markings were reasonable.
Who responds and who’s responsible for the road?
Both are State routes maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation. Buffalo Police usually handle crashes within the city, and State Police sometimes respond. If the crash involved a road defect, a missing sign or a poorly marked work zone, the claim may be against the State in the Court of Claims, with a 90-day deadline. Contractors may also be responsible. See our Court of Claims guide.
What are the common crash types?
- Merge crashes at short on-ramps where drivers have little room to match speed.
- Rear-end crashes in rush-hour backups, where New York presumes the rear driver was negligent.
- Run-off-road crashes on curves, especially on the 198 in wet or icy weather.
- Work zone crashes wherever crews are working.
- Pedestrian crashes at the 198’s surface crossings and along the park.
What evidence matters most?
On a highway, crashes happen fast and scenes get cleared quickly. Photos of where the vehicles ended up, skid marks, damaged guardrails and signs are hard to recreate later. Dashcam footage is gold. NYSDOT and the Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition operate traffic cameras on area highways, but footage may not be saved for long, so a lawyer may need to ask for it right away.
How do the 2026 rules apply?
Most highway crash cases are no-fault cases. For suits filed on or after May 26, 2026, a driver more at fault than the defendants combined can’t recover, and the injured person needs a serious injury under the narrowed definition to recover pain and suffering. Merge crashes often involve shared fault, so the details of who had the right of way matter a lot. Read the reform guide.
What about trucks?
Tractor-trailers use the 33 to reach the 90 and the airport area. Truck crashes involve federal safety rules and multiple insurers. Electronic logging data and engine data can disappear without a prompt request.
The short version
- The 198 and the 33 are State roads with short ramps and tight merges.
- The Scajaquada runs through Delaware Park and isn’t built for highway speeds.
- Road and work zone claims may go to the Court of Claims within 90 days.
- Collect photos and video quickly, before the scene is cleared.
Who you notify, and the 10-day motorist report
These roads are state facilities, so a defect or design claim often belongs in the Court of Claims, with a claim or a notice of intention generally due within 90 days. A crash with a private driver is still an ordinary injury claim with a three-year clock, plus the shorter first-party dates. File an MV-104 within 10 days if someone was hurt or if property damage to any one person exceeds $1,000, as the DMV motorist report page requires, and notice a no-fault claim within 30 days.
Drivers on the Scajaquada curve or the Kensington trenches still owe pedestrians and cyclists due care under VTL ยง 1146, including at the crossings that connect the park and the Elmwood Village.
Minimum liability coverage on a private vehicle is still only $25,000 for injury to one person and $50,000 for one crash, per the DMV insurance-requirements page. A high-speed expressway crash often exceeds those numbers, so your own SUM coverage, if you have it, should be read alongside any Court of Claims filing against the State.
Photograph the lane markings, any temporary barriers, the sight line into a curve and the lighting, because a State-road defect or a private driver’s lane change can both turn on what the roadway looked like that night. Conditions on the Kensington and the Scajaquada can change as soon as a crew arrives.
Call the same night if you need a police report number, then set a reminder to order the official copy after it has had time to post. An expressway crash without a report number, or without photos of the lanes that night, is much harder to rebuild later.
This is general information. You can browse car accident attorneys near the Elmwood Village.