As fall weather settles in, Erie County highway crews are starting their last major road project of the season. County Executive Mark Poloncarz says nearly two miles of Old Lake Shore Road in Hamburg will be repaved over the next week. Motorists who travel Old Lake Shore Road between Route 5 and Lakeview Road should expect delays for the next week or so as repaving takes place. Poloncarz says the work is performed based upon the condition of the road - as rated by an independent agency - and traffic count.
"This road is rated a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. There are other roads that are 5s and 6s, so this is a 4. It's rated worse," he explained. "And it has over 4,000 cars a day. So because it's rated worse and it has more traffic counts, you gotta get in and fix those roads first because with more traffic, it degrades quicker."
Poloncarz says the roughly $600,000 cost of the project is being covered by additional "Pave New York" funding the county received. Old Lake Shore Road will remain open, but motorists should expect delays.
In the meantime, a section of Tonawanda Creek Road in Clarence remains closed. Poloncarz says that project will require help from Washington.
He says preventing more erosion and rebuilding Tonawanda Creek Road is expected to cost upwards of $6 million - or 10 times the cost of repaving Old Lake Shore Road, which is being covered by state aid.