The highway provides the fastest road link between Toronto (Canada's largest city) and the heavily populated Northeastern US via I-90.

I-290 begins at a semi-directional T interchange with I-190 within view of the Niagara River in an industrial sector of the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda.

The freeway heads east from I-190 into more residential areas of Tonawanda, where it meets New York State Route 384 (NY 384) at a three-quarter cloverleaf interchange.

The Youngmann continues east through Tonawanda to the Amherst town line, where it meets US Route 62 (US 62) at a second three-quarter cloverleaf interchange.

It was renamed in the early 1960s[6][8] to serve as a memorial to Elmer G. H. Youngmann, a project engineer who died while the road was being built.