AMHERST, N.Y. — Road construction season in Western New York is right around the corner, and when an Amherst man reached out to 2 On Your Side with questions about a project that didn't get done last year in his neighborhood, we went to get him some answers.
He had some questions about North Forest Road, which, according to state traffic data, about 11,000 drivers use every day.
Steve Savidge of Amherst drives North Forest Road between Sheridan and Maple every day. He's not a fan of the rapid deterioration of the road.
"The shoulders are becoming unbearable especially for pedestrians and bicyclists," he said.
North Forest was on Erie County's road list last year and was supposed to be repaved.
Savidge says he got a letter from the county letting him know of the upcoming work, but that work never actually happened.
"It is frustrating that you're told, you're given a notification from the county that there's going to be work that happens there that year and you're expecting it and you don't get anything," Savidge said.
After doing a quick search online, he found a story 2 On Your Side did last October explaining the delay on North Forest.
"Which was great because it took me a little while to find something about why the project wasn't done," he said.
The county's then-deputy highway commissioner, Charles Sickler, told us there were delays in awarding contracts for the project and that it would be put off until this year because of excessive rain.
In a statement, the county's civil engineer tells us that work on North Forest will begin early next month, once air and ground temperatures get up to about 50 degrees on a consistent basis.
Another project pushed into this year is Ellicott Creek Road, the county says message boards will soon go up letting people know about upcoming construction here.
A road project that was supposed to happen last year but never did was Pleasant View in Lancaster. That's because according to a county spokesperson, Lancaster wants to do waterline work, which has delayed repaving this road.
For Savidge, he looks forward to seeing North Forest finally become a smooth ride, but he feels more needs to be done.
"There's still a lack of sidewalks throughout that street a bicycle path isn't on that street," Savidge said.
The county says that it is spending $40 million on road construction this year, up from $38 million last year.
Here's a breakdown of many roads the county says it's doing:
East & West Road (from Union Road to Leydecker) in the Town of West Seneca, a project that includes new drainage, curbing, and road sections; and a $2.5 million total reconstruction of North & South Main Street in the Village of Angola. The section of road from Eden Evans Center Road to Hardpan Road will be reconstructed with new road sections, drainage, and curbing. Another bonded project, totaling $500,000, involves drainage rehabilitation and replacement on Old Lakeshore Road in Evans to address roadway drainage between Big Sister Creek and Hickory.
There will be a $1.2 million mill and overlay project will be conducted on Cleveland Drive in the Town of Cheektowaga, from the NYS Thruway west to the City of Buffalo line. This 1.7-mile project will also include drainage repairs. Elsewhere in the district, a $1.06 million mill and overlay operation will take place on Dingens Street in Cheektowaga from the City of Buffalo line to Harlem Road, a distance of 0.76 miles and Kensington Avenue in the Town of Amherst will see mill and overlay operations along with a road diet requested by the Town. This $624,000 project will extend from NYS Route 5 to Harlem Road, a distance of 1.04 miles that currently carries four lanes of traffic.
Other work upcoming in the Harlem District includes Baseline Road (from Whitehaven to East River), Love Road (from East River to West River), and Bush Road (from East River to West River) in Grand Island, along with Englewood Road in Tonawanda (from Kenmore Avenue to Highland).
Roads scheduled for mill and overlay work include Davis Road (from Jewett-Holmwood to Route 20A) in Aurora, Freeman Road (from Route 20a to Jewett-Holmwood) and South Freeman Road (from Route 240 to Jewett-Holmwood) in Orchard Park. Girdle Road in Aurora (from Jamison to Porterville) and Whitney Road in Holland are also scheduled for work. Additionally, the Four Rod Road Bridge is scheduled for replacement in 2019.
Shisler Road in Clarence (from Main Street to Bergtold), Exchange Street (from the RR tracks to Clinton) in Alden/Marilla, Goodrich Road (from Tonawanda Creek Road to County Line) in Clarence, Bowen (from the Lancaster Town Line to William Street) and Lake Street in Lancaster are scheduled for work, as is Crittenden Road (from the Thruway Bridge to 5 corners) in Alden and Newstead. The bridge on North Ellicott Creek Road is also scheduled for replacement in 2019.
$1.5 million will go to the reconstruction of Lake Avenue from Route 5 to South Park Avenue in Hamburg/Blasdell is planned while a $1.15 million mill and overlay project, with drainage repairs, is slated for Abbott Road in front of New Era Field. The project includes the section of Abbott from Southwestern Blvd. to Big Tree Road and also Abbott Road north to Mile Strip Road in Orchard Park. The district is also planning work on Zimmerman Road (from Shero to Feddick) in Boston and McKinley Parkway (from Clark to Quinby) in Hamburg.
The Hamburg District will also conduct mill and overlay repairs on Old Lakeshore Road between South Creek and Bennett Road in Evans. Additionally, the Hillcroft Road Bridge over Eighteen Mile Creek in the Town of Boston is scheduled to be replaced in 2019.
Vaughn Road (from Route 39 to County Line) in Concord and Middle Road (from Pratham to Route 39) in Sardinia in the Concord District are scheduled for work in 2019.
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