Though the ongoing construction on both Main Street and Sweet Home Road has been the primary cause for busted vehicles and traffic delays for the past several years, drivers are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Despite deadlines being set and broken in the past, recent updates promise to alleviate the burden the construction created.
After three years of delays, including a workers' strike in mid-2004, Engineer Richard Kraft said that the city has met the Aug. 31 deadline for the Main Street's completion.
There is, however, minimal work to be done on the road until early October. In a project that began on Sept. 1, roads will be stripped, spanning Eastbound/Westbound from Hertel Avenue to Route 62/Bailey Avenue. Traffic controllers will also be present to guide drivers and lessen any confusion regarding lane restrictions.
Sweet Home Road construction, running Northbound/Southbound from Ellicott Creek Road to Maple Road, began in the spring of 2006. The roadwork will continue throughout the next year, with a deadline of Nov. 30, 2007.
The construction will be put on hold for winter sometime between October and November of this year, according to NYS Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Susan Surdej
With little to no construction occurring on Sweet Home Road during the winter months, two lanes will be open. Similar to Main Street, traffic controllers will be present in the area during construction to direct vehicles if there are lane restrictions. The project will resume in the spring of 2007.
Frontier Road will be closed on Friday, Sept. 8 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., as will St. Rita's Lane at the Alumni Lot Entrance. Residents of South Lake Village may enter and exit through the Coventry Entrance during Fall Fest.
As construction is put on hold for the winter months, students may want to consider finding transportation alternatives before it resumes in the spring. Some campus commuters have found alternative routes to avoid the traffic while others have suffered the consequences.
"If I had to take the roads with all that holdup, I would probably just take the shuttle," said Christopher Miller, a sophomore economics major who transferred to UB this semester. "Then I wouldn't have to look for parking after waiting in traffic for thirty minutes."
Other students, especially those who suffered damage to their vehicle, were not as passive about the construction.
"I needed a whole new $400 low profile tire," said Elliot B. Hale, a senior sociology major. "The road was stripped down so much that a bump popped out my tire. I wasn't even exceeding ten miles per hour.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
