NY 434 begins south of the village of Owego at an intersection with NY 96. The highway heads to the east as a two-lane road, closely paralleling the Southern Tier Expressway (NY 17) as it runs along the southern edge of the Susquehanna River valley. The first junction along the route leads to exit 64, the first of three exits directly connecting NY 434 to the nearby freeway. Continuing on, NY 434 serves a housing tract and a cluster of commercial properties at the southeastern edge of the village before heading into less developed areas of the town. For most of the next , NY 434 runs directly alongside the eastbound lanes of the freeway, separated by only a fence in all but a handful of areas.