The junction was built during the 1950s and 1960s as part of the Rochester Outer Loop's construction, and rebuilt in the late 1980s to eliminate weaving caused by the interchange's original design.

[4] The interchange is bounded on all sides by commercial and residential developments in the town of Brighton to the east and the city of Rochester to the west.

[5][6] Local legend relates that on viewing the plans for the combined interchanges, an engineer named Stanley Kozak was heard to exclaim "It's like a can of worms!".

[7] In the years since the reconstruction, the Can of Worms name has remained in local parlance, typically as a descriptor for the modern junction during traffic reports.

The name is also invoked when other traffic issues in the area are discussed in the local media—such as a lane re-striping on NY 590 in Irondequoit that generated a significant amount of controversy in 2010—a reference to the problems that once plagued the 490/590 interchange.