Two of the City of Lackawanna's busiest roads will be getting repaved this summer, paid for by a grant arranged by New York State Senator Tim Kennedy.
Ridge Road and South Park Avenue will undergo work over the next month and a half. The announcement of the $2.5 million project was made this morning outside the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens.
"We're sitting on two of the greatest assets of Erie County: the Botanical Gardens, which is right in front of us, and Our Lady of Victory Basilica, which is behind us," said Lackawanna mayor Geoff Szymanski. "This road is terrible. It needs to be done, and it's getting done."
The project calls for milling and repaving of Ridge Road from Abbott Road to South Park, and South Park from the City of Buffalo line to Lackawanna's south city limit.
At least 11,000 people use South Park Avenue daily in Lackawanna, officials estimate, and more than 12,000 use Ridge Road.
Senator Kennedy expressed his hope that this investment of public dollars will encourage private investment that would, in turn, boost local business as well as tourist opportunities.
He offered the Our Lady of Victory Basilica as just one example.
"Our goal is, as Father Baker is ultimately canonized into sainthood, that this will be the beautiful thoroughfare through the heart of our community that we can all be proud of, and that welcomes these thousands of visitors right into this great city."
The project is scheduled to be completed by late September.
