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'Potholeville' sign in Hamburg now says 'Thank You'

The sign used to say "Welcome to Potholeville," calling out Erie County Department of Public Works to fix Lakeview Road. It got a lot of attention from drivers, and neighbors.

HAMBURG, NY - Just last month, a Hamburg man, tired of hitting potholes on his street, put up a sign declaring his neighborhood 'Potholeville.' And now, he’s got a sign up that says something different.

The sign used to say “Welcome to Potholeville,” calling out Erie County Department of Public Works to fix Lakeview Road. It got a lot of attention from drivers and neighbors.

Now it reads, "Thank You."

When we met Nick Hoffman last month, he was not a happy guy, fed up with Lakeview Road, slowly deteriorating and full of potholes.

"They just patch it and run it over with a truck they throw down some patch and run it over so they’re not really repairing a problem," he said.

So he put up a sign, proclaiming his neighborhood, 'Potholeville.'

Now, the sign has been flipped around, and now reads 'Thank You.'

Erie County has added Lakeview Road to its list of roads that will be repaved this spring.

REPORTER: Was that a surprise?

"Oh man I couldn’t believe it, it’s just been long overdue and finally it’s going to get fixed right, what else do you say to somebody that’s going to an enormous amount of money to make sure happy here in Hamburg," Hoffman said.

2 On Your Side has reported on the poor conditions on Zimmerman Road in Boston and Dodge, Hopkins and North French Roads in Amherst.

REPORTER: Why were those roads specifically picked and with Lakeview was it because this guy had a sign that said Welcome to Potholeville?

"Lakeview Road was picked naturally because of the condition it was in," said Erie County DPW commissioner Bill Geary, who added that traffic volume is a factor. He said this was the criteria for picking other roads and that repaving should start in mid-May.

REPORTER: How many other roads is the county going to do?

"There’s a lot of economics that play into that especially most viewers and people that live on these roads can see at the gas pump the price of gas is rising the biggest part of paving a road is oil based," Geary said.

Work here on Lakeview will start in a few days.

"By putting up my simple sign, my simple, $75 sign it really flagged the road for what needed to be done," Hoffman said.

This is the short list of roads that Erie County says will get done, this is not the full list, there are still more that will be added. Geary says they’re eyeing six other roads, but the price of oil could affect how many they do. An updated road list should be released in a few weeks.

In the Aurora District, Darien Road (from Lewis to Boise) and Holland Glenwood Road (from Phillips Road to Rte. 240) are scheduled for mill and overlay work in 2018, with an additional $650,000 set aside for pavement preservation and crack sealing operations throughout the district.

In the Clarence District Girdle Road (from Bullis to Jamison Road) is scheduled for mill and overlay work with an additional $650,000 on hand for pavement preservation and crack sealing throughout the district.

Work in the Concord District will include a mill and overlay of Vaughn Road/Rte. 240 (from Genesee to Rte. 39) and of Savage Road (from Rte. 39 to County Line Road) with an additional $650,000 designated for pavement preservation operations and crack sealing throughout the district.

The Hamburg District is preparing for mill and overlay on Lakeview Road (from Rte. 20 to Rte. 62 in the Village of Hamburg) and on Zimmerman Road (from Rte. 391 to Shero) and also has similar funds set aside for pavement preservation and crack sealing work.

In the Harlem District county crews will be conducting mill and overlay work on Dodge Road (from Hopkins to Campbell), Hopkins Road (from Sheridan Drive to Maple Road), and North French Road (from Transit Road to Millersport Hwy.).

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