Towns take action on a dangerous and popular WNY boulevard

On Wednesday, the Town of Amherst Supervisor Brian Kulpa will introduce a new charter to the Town Board. 

This would allow the both the Town and Amherst and Town of Tonawanda to collaborate and create a plan making Niagara Falls Boulevard safer. 

There have been a number of recent deadly and serious accidents involving pedestrians getting hit. On Saturday, 41-year-old Jennifer Duffin of Amherst died after getting hit by a car while crossing Niagara Falls Blvd. near Ted’s Hotdogs. The accident happened around 12:42am. 
 
Both the Towns of Tonawanda and Amherst have worked together to do studies on the issues with this roadway.  Kulpa said the problems include lack of street lights, crosswalks and traffic lights. Making it dangerous for people to safety cross the road. 

“It comes upon us as a municipality as a set of municipalities to make sure we get this right,” Kulpa said. 

Niagara Falls Boulevard is a state roadway. That’s why the two communities are creating a plan and will present it to New York State Department of Transportation. 
The state would have to approve and fund the project. 

“It’s really a matter of working in house with planners and engineers to figure out how we change infrastructure,” Amherst Supervisor said. 

The Town Board meeting is Wednesday, May 16 at 7 p.m. in the Amherst Municipal Building Council Chambers.