BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Spring in here and that means road construction season is right around the corner.
On Monday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced a $40 million investment to the local infrastructure.
The money will be invested in county road and bridge repairs.
Some of the bigger projects include East and West Road in West Seneca, north and south Main Street in Angola and Old Lakeshore Road in Town of Evans.
Countywide 2019 road work will be spread across all five highway districts:
- In the Harlem District, 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 Rte. 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).
- In the Aurora District, roads scheduled for mill and overlay work include Davis Road (from Jewett-Holmwood to Rte. 20A) in Aurora, Freeman Road (from Rte. 20a to Jewett-Holmwood) and South Freeman Road (from Rte. 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.
- In the Clarence District, 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.
- In the Hamburg District a $1.5 million reconstruction of Lake Avenue from Rte. 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 Rte. 39 to County Line) in Concord and Middle Road (from Pratham to Rte. 39) in Sardinia in the Concord District are scheduled for work in 2019.
“In addition to the millions of dollars being spent on road and bridge repair we are investing in culverts, highway vehicle and equipment replacement, and many other necessary components of a successful infrastructure operation. In fact, in 2019 we plan on spending $40,038,325 on new road and bridge projects, not including and remaining work to be completed from our 2018 road and bridge programs.. Maintaining our roads effectively means planning responsibly for the future while executing projects today and I thank our Department of Public Works and our construction partners for their diligence in getting the job done,” says Poloncarz.
The projects are not expected to begin until the temperatures warm up.
In the meantime, county road crews will be out 'cold patching' pot holes that have appeared over the winter months.
