The Erie County Department of Public Works Highways’ Division is putting the finishing touches on a lengthy list of road and bridge repair, maintenance, and other highway improvements thanks to an extended period of good weather that allowed the Department to conduct operations deep into the fall. Crews performed a variety of work on approximately 140 miles of county roads in 2017 along with 4 significant bridge reconstructions, 9 bridge rehabilitations, and numerous culvert reconstructions. In addition, over 5.8 million lane feet on 102 county roads were re-striped, three new locations for guide rail on county roads were added while seventy others were repaired, and road safety signage was significantly increased countywide.

“This extensive list of completed projects demonstrates our commitment to maintaining our infrastructure and improving it wherever possible. While the late summer weather helped our Department of Public Works to get more work done, weather is never kind to our roads and bridges and we need to continually protect, preserve, and upgrade our inventory to give residents the roads they expect,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “While a broad range of critical and high-profile projects have been completed, more work remains to be done and I thank DPW Commissioner Bill Geary, his staff, and the contractors they work with for the job they are doing on behalf of all county residents.”

In 2017, major projects conducted by DPW Highways’ Division included the ongoing reconstruction of Goodrich Road in Clarence, the reconstruction of Elmwood Avenue in Kenmore near the pedestrian/bike path, and rehabilitative joint repairs to Maple Road in Amherst. Elsewhere, mill and overlay operations took place on:

• Maple Street between Elma and East Aurora;

• Versailles Plank Road and Old Lake Shore Road in Hamburg;

• Creekside Road in Tonawanda;

• Exchange Street in Alden;

• Savage Road in Sardinia;

• Lake Street between Evans and Angola;

• Genesee Road in North Collins/Concord;

• and Rte. 240 in Colden/Concord (5 miles) along with 10.5 miles of Boston State Road in Boston/Concord.

Oil and chip operations of varying lengths were conducted on 51 roads spread across the county’s five highway districts, and repairs to the Como Lake Dam in Lancaster also commenced.

Bridges and culverts were also the focus for a considerable amount of work in 2017. In Clarence, two bridges on Salt Road were reconstructed, as was the Stony Road bridge in Lancaster. Bridges rehabilitated in 2017 include:

• Bullis Road bridge in Elma;

• Burdick Road bridge in Newstead;

• Murray Hill bridge in Colden;

• Hammond Hill bridge in Concord;

• Porterville Road bridge in Marilla;

• Town Line Road bridge in Alden;

• Mill Street bridge in Boston;

• and two bridges on Taylor Hollow Road in Collins.

Culvert reconstruction to improve drainage and mitigate potential flooding took place on Stony Road in Lancaster, North Creek Road in Hamburg, Boston State Road in Boston, Genesee Road in Concord, and on two culverts on Springville-Boston Road in Concord.

Erie County DPW Commissioner William Geary added, “The Department of Public Works is on the front lines of maintaining over 1,200 center lane miles of roads in Erie County, along with our bridges and everything else that motorists travel on and use along the way, such as signage, guide rail, culverts and more. However, nature never rests and neither do we. The Poloncarz administration has invested extensively in county infrastructure and we will continue to perform as much work as possible in order to ensure that motorists have safe and reliable roads to travel on.”

Over 5.8 million lane feet on 128 county roads received epoxy re-striping in 2017 while latex striping was applied to an additional 1.1 million lane feet on 48 roads this year. Approximately 450,000 lane feet on an additional 17 roads will be re-striped this year as weather permits. Also, in addition to the three new sections of guide rail completed and seventy sections repaired in 2017, DPW has targeted another 14 sections of guide rail around the county for repair work as weather allows.

In addition to the projects listed above, the Highways’ Division conducted an ambitious effort to improve road safety by upgrading county road signage in 2017, which included placing “Reduced Speed Limit” signs on 11 roads, “Curve Warning” signs in 4 locations, and “Intersection Warning” signs in 11 locations. Other signs added around the county this year include signs for hidden driveways, school zones, school bus stops, lane ends, and one Deaf Child sign as well as one Purple Heart Community sign.

For more information:

On the Erie County Department of Public Works, visit http://www2.erie.gov/dpw/