BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Potholes, speeding cars, no crosswalks. Welcome to Chandler Street in Buffalo.
"Enough is enough. I care too much about my coworkers and my community to watch this happen," said Lexi Clark, the Front of House Specialist at ODL Orthodontic Lab. ODL Orthodontic Lab resides on Chandler Street.
"This particular street has been abandoned for the last 30 years, and now it's not," said Stacie Kowalski, co-owner of Salon in the City Suites.
The area was an industrial wasteland, but now is booming with business. Yet the infrastructure doesn't reflect that.
"People from the neighborhood are still treating it like a desolate undone street and there's businesses now," said Kowalski.
The speed limit is 30, but Clark said she sees cars flying by at 40 to 50 miles per hour. That's why she decided to launch a petition on change.org.
"We had a school bus driver flying down the road. One school bus driver actually hit something," Clark said.
The goal is to install speed limit signs, street lights and cross walks to make the street safer for pedestrians and drivers.
"We want it to be safer for drivers and pedestrians. We want no one to get hurt. That's basically it," said Tom Wright, a part owner of ODL Orthodontic Lab.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Michael Finn said he's willing to work to make the street safer.
"We'll look to do all the coordination that's necessary to make it safe and viable for that neighborhood," Finn said.
Business owners have reached out to Finn, their council member and Mayor Byron Brown. Neither Clark, Kowalski or Wright has heard back. But Finn said it is something the city will look into.
"That's something that we'll look into along with the stakeholders on the street," Finn said.
Wright said he hopes these changes come quickly because the road is driving new business away.
"For us, we're just a business trying to take a chance on the city. We're hoping that the city would take a chance on us as well," said Wright.
