Staff Reports
Aging highway ramp bridges linking interstates 190 and 290 in the Town of Tonawanda scheduled for replacement will be funded in part with federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money.
The $4.9 million project is set to receive $2.2 million in stimulus funding, according to a release from Gov. David A. Paterson�s office.
New bridges will be installed on new alignments to the north of the existing bridges, which will eliminate structural deficiencies.
The road work will also provide improvements that meet modern design standards and respond to traffic needs.
Reports of structural deterioration have plagued the ramps in recent years.
The interchange is considered the worst spot for accidents in the Town of Tonawanda, town police Lt. Nick Bado told the Tonawanda News in January 2008.
�We definitely respond to that area often,� Bado said. �That is brutal there. It�s notorious for a lot of accidents.�
According to information released by New York Works, �these improvements will provide for adequate capacity and safety in a cost-effective manner throughout a design life of 50 years.�
The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2011.
State Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Kenmore, said the federal stimulus funds will help jump-start the long-anticipated project.
�The bridge from the westbound Youngmann to the southbound Thruway has had well-documented structural problems involving corroded bridge beams which had to be reinforced,� Schimminger noted.
The funding is part of an additional $7.4 million for highway projects in Western New York on top of $75 million in federal economic stimulus money announced for the region earlier this year.
Three projects in Niagara County also received additional funding: $1.6 million for repaving Pine Avenue in Niagara Falls; $1.2 million to repave part of Main Street in the Falls and $1 million to repave part of Packard Road.
