Grand Island Boulevard construction work aggravates business owners, motorists

by Robin M. Woolson
Grand Island Dispatch, May 28, 2004

Business owners on Grand Island Boulevard are not very happy with the road work currently being done on that stretch of road. Many businesses have seen a decline in customer traffic due to the crews working on that section of the Island.

Motorists who normally use the boulevard to make their way onto the Island are also unhappy with the work, having to sit from anywhere from five to 15 minutes before they are waved through by a member of the construction crew.

Lynn Quarantello, manager at Town Cafe, said that business at the restaurant came to an almost complete halt on May 21 due to the crews working in front of the establishment.

No Access

She said crews had dug a path across the driveway to the restaurant right before the dinner hour. Employees trying to get to the job at the restaurant had been told by road workers that they could drive across the grass to get there or to go down the street and turn around and that the crews would be done by the time they got back. She said the crews were turning away potential customers or telling them to park across the street and walk.

She said they had no idea there was going to be any work done right there that day until they saw the trucks come up the road.

"At first we thought they were painting the roadway, but when we saw the pavement being chewed up and shot into the dump truck, we knew it was something more," she said.

Quarantello said that customers looking to get to the restaurant were told they couldn't get in there.

"There was a point where the crews did allow people to come in, but then the workers cut off the customers and parked a truck in the way," said Quarantello. "They weren't able to get out until the workers were done for the day. The crews were also telling people that they couldn't come in here."

She said the crews did not even put a metal plate ramp to the driveway so that customers could still get to the restaurant.

She said there was no communication from the workers when the crews would be working in front of the restaurant.

"If we had been informed, we may have closed the restaurant for the day," she said.

Quarantello said that on Monday, there was no work being done because there had been a little rain that morning.

What's Going On?

Because of the problem, Quarantello had called Supervisor Peter McMahon to come and see what was going on. He had been there and talked to the crew who said they would be completed for the day around 3:30 p.m., but she said they did not finish until 9 p.m.

Quarantello said that the whole setup was done unprofessionally.

"There was no notification done prior to the start of this work," she explained. "The business owners should have been informed as to when the crews would be coming. There was no notification at all."

Quarantello said that Friday is the busiest day of the week for Town Cafe, but the numbers of patrons was down. She had said that one of the lunch waitresses only made $1 in tips that day due to the lack of customers.

McMahon said that this was unfortunate that the workers were there in front of the establishment during its usually busiest time of the day.

"If it had happened on another day or at night, there probably wouldn't have been as much of an impact," he said. "But once they started on that section, they couldn't stop. They had to finish what they had started."

With the crews working on one side of the road at a time, traffic is halted so vehicles moving from the opposite direction can be sent through. During those times, vehicles may be stopped there for about five to 10 minutes.

About an average of 18,000 vehicles travel Grand Island Boulevard in a day.

Short-term Disruption

Norman Abraham, program engineer for the Niagara County Maintenance Division for the New York State Department of Transportation, said the disruption for businesses should be short-term.

He said the project right now is having crews removing the shoulder down to the dirt because of all the ruts.

"It was untraverseable," he said.

As the shoulder is being removed, crews are following right behind and adding stone along with a layer of asphalt.

"This is making the shoulder within two inches of the pavement that is already there," said Abraham.

Once the shoulders are finished on Grand Island Boulevard, crews will then put a binder asphalt, or top layer, on the boulevard making the whole stretch of road even.

"This project is shorter than a complete reconstruction and we are planning to have this completed by July 4, weather permitting," he said.

Abraham said there had been concern from Town officials that the project wouldn't be completed on time for the holiday festivities.

"We are still on track to have it completed by that date," he said.

No Advance Notice

Abraham said there had been some business owners who voiced their concerns to the town and had received some word about this project.

"Signs are typically put up ahead of time, about two to three days in advance," Abraham said. "But there was no specific notice sent to businesses or owners."

He said that it make take a couple hours for a portion to be taken care of to get passed a business and get a two-by-eight foot or two-by-ten foot board down to ease the transition.

Grand Island Chamber of Commerce President Jim Sharpe said there had been concerns from some of the business owners before the project started about the impact this project would have on the establishments.

"I had gone and talked to the people at the project office and received assurances that there would be no big disruptions along the boulevard," Sharpe said. "But since then, a number of the businesses have indicated that there has been an impact."

Sharpe said many of the comments he received were wishing that there was more care in getting cars in and out of the lots. He said that when the boards were put down for people to get in and out, that they are shifting and that the businesses owners have put other boards out to help ease the transition from the road to the lots.