Parts of the highway were built along the former rights-of-way of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Erie Canal. The entire route was built as part of the New York State Thruway in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was completed in 1964. The cost of I-190's construction had been paid off by 1996, and by law, the tolls along the freeway were supposed to be removed at that point; however, this did not occur until 2006. The Grand Island tollbooths remained in place for 12 more years, but were taken down in 2018 and replaced with high speed toll collection.