Post Classifieds
Elmwood Avenue gets a facelift
By Michael Canfield
On October 10, 2012
While the construction on Elmwood Avenue in front of Buffalo State may be a hassle for students trying
to get to class, the end result will allow students who walk or ride their bikes easier access to the school.
The construction, which is a City of Buffalo project, will provide a multiuse pathway, reconstruct
Elmwood Avenue and update the lighting and traffic lights, said Assistant Design and Construction
Coordinator Brian Wittmer.
"It's good news for students who walk or take their bike to school," he said.
The total cost of the project is $2.2 million, and is mostly federally funded, with some state and city
funding as well, said Tim McGovern, associate with Erdman Anthony, the company who did the design
for the work.
"It's a local administered, federal aid project, which means it's 80 percent federally funded monies, 15
percent state funded money and five percent city funded money," he said.
One of the main parts of the project will be a 14-foot-wide multiuse pathway, which will allow bicycles
to travel in both directions. There will also be room on the pathway for pedestrians.
The pathway will extend from the end of the Scajaquada Bridge to the corner of Elmwood Avenue and
Forest Avenue, and then continue down Forest Avenue to Richmond Avenue, where it will connect with
an already established bike path on Richmond Avenue.
There is also a bike path on the other side of the Scajaquada Bridge. This project will join the two
established paths, McGovern said. The bike path will be on the west side, or the Buffalo State side, of
Elmwood Avenue.
"This project is unique because of the off-road bike path, which is something the city would like to do
more of," he said. "This was a good opportunity to connect some dead space between existing bike
paths to the north and to the south."
The project will also reconstruct Elmwood Avenue. Between four-to-eight inches of the current asphalt
pavement will be removed from the street, with the same amount being put back in new asphalt
pavement, McGovern said.
"No widening," he said, referring to the reconstruction of the street. "It will follow the existing curb
alignment, so there's no widening of the road, no additional turning lanes or anything like that."
New granite curbs and decorative lighting, similar to streetlights in other parts of the city, will also be
installed. Timers will be put in at the new signals, and will make a "chirp" sound to let pedestrians know
how long they have to cross the street, McGovern said.
The project was originally slated to begin last spring, but several delays and hold-ups kept the contractor
from getting started, McGovern said.
"The original intent was to award this thing back in January of this year," he said, " and by spring,
depending on the weather, have the contractor out there, mobilized and getting things done, and
starting with the college right after graduation. Then in June, we'd have them working in front of the
college when classes weren't really in full swing. That was the original intent, but it's just the way it
worked out."
Despite having Elmwood Avenue reduced to one lane in each direction, no roadwork will happen this
year, McGovern said. The main focus is the off-road work they're doing.
"Ultimately, what the contractor wants to do is get the pathway in and done, establish seeding for grass
and just get out of there," he said. "Then they can open up the road for the winter. It'll be as minimally
invasive as possible."
The goal is to have the project completed in the spring, as the contractor will most likely shut down for
the winter, McGovern said.
A memo sent out by the school in the Daily Bulletin at the beginning of September advised students,
faculty and staff to start using the Grant Street entrance to the school once construction began. That's
the way to go, Wittmer said.
"I use Grant Street," he said. "I don't think the traffic on Grant has increased because of the construction
on Elmwood. I personally like Grant."
Michael Canfield can be reached by email at canfield.record@live.com.
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