(Niagara Falls, NY) Using the newly-renovated Caravelle Park as a backdrop, Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster continued an annual tradition today by kicking off the 2015 paving season with a press conference announcing the first 12 of an estimated 34 streets to be repaved as part of a $2.5million in-house paving program. Not surprisingly, Caravelle Drive itself (from Cayuga Drive to Niagara Falls Boulevard) was one of the streets included.
“We’ve already been out with our DPW crews doing patchwork, and have used our Zipper machine to do some larger repairs on stretches with multiple problems,” said Dyster. For example, Porter Road eastbound has recently been Zippered and is scheduled for paving tomorrow, May 1. City crews have also been busy paving over numerous water cuts left over from broken water mains during the severe winter. “Over the next couple weeks our efforts shift into the next gear.” Once again this year, the City will make use of the Pothole Killer, an advanced technology that Niagara Falls helped to pioneer earlier in Dyster’s administration. “The first Pothole Killer will arrive around May 4th, to be joined by reinforcements shortly thereafter. This allows us to address a large number of potholes in a short period of time. It makes the streets drivable, prevents damage to cars’ front ends, and frees-up City crews’ time and energy for more substantial reconstruction efforts.” The total cost for the program is $70,000 for 320 machine/hours.
According to Dyster, milling of streets for the City’s in-house reconstruction effort will start May 11th. “The first project we’re going to address is a block of 4th Street downtown, part of which delaminated–basically disintegrated as a result of winter damage–and is located directly adjacent to where a new hotel is in the process of opening in the next few days. So we want to get that out of the way before the start of the prime tourism season, usually defined as beginning with the Victoria Day weekend.” Preliminary work on the street has started already in order to speed completion. City Forestry crews are also out trimming tree branches necessary to prevent them interfering with the raised beds of dump trucks or other paving equipment. Thus far this season, City crews have been hauling hot asphalt from a plant in Lockport; the Niagara plant is scheduled to open May 7, reducing the run time for City trucks and making the operation much more efficient.
Efforts then shift to the City’s LaSalle section for the first part of the season. Streets to be repaved are: W. Rivershore Drive from S. 86th Street to its westerly terminus; Caravelle Drive from Cayuga Dr. to Niagara Falls Blvd.; 95th St. from Cayuga to Niemel Dr.; 89th St. from Cayuga to Niagara Falls Blvd.; 84th St. from Lindbergh Ave. to Witkop Ave.; Witkop Ave. from Laughlin Dr. to 87th St.; 85th St. from Witkop to Bollier Ave.; 81st St. from Niagara Falls Blvd. to Frontier Ave.; Girard Ave. from 66th St. to 72nd St.; 74th St. from Buffalo Ave. to Stephenson Ave.; and 47th St. from Packard Rd. to Niagara Falls Blvd. “We try to alternate where in the City we start our efforts, and it was LaSalle’s turn this year,” said Dyster. “But don’t worry. After we get part of the way down the list, we’ll announce the next group of streets, and by the end of the season we will have paved in all parts of the City: Echota, Center City, the North End, DeVeaux, etc.”
West Rivershore Drive is a special case, since only this single road serves a long peninsula jutting downstream into the Niagara River from Cayuga Island. DPW officials will do outreach to local residents well in advance of the start of construction to help reduce inconvenience to residents during the period—hopefully only a few days—when the street will be under construction.
In some cases, streets have deteriorated to the point where a complete full-depth reconstruction of the street is required. These jobs are bid out by the City to private contractors. Dyster announced that two streets would be handled by the City in this way: Portage Road from Ferry Ave. to Niagara Street, and 27th Street, also from Ferry to Niagara. “Portage Road deteriorated during the recent record-cold winter, with red clay showing through the asphalt base. 27th has been a long-time maintenance headache, with brick underlying much of the street. This year, we’re going to address these two long-term problem areas, and scratch them off our list.” The total estimated cost for both jobs is about $1.1 million. Contracts with the low bidders will be brought before City Council for approval when the bidding process is complete over the next several weeks.
Dyster said that the City’s 2015 program also includes approximately $500,000 worth of sidewalk replacements, and roughly the same for reconstruction of catch basins and other hardware needed as part of street reconstruction. The Mayor also said the City would be making a major effort this season to install ADA-compliant corner crossings, and would continue its efforts to address problem alleys as well.
The site of today’s press conference, Caravelle Park, has seen a series of recently-completed improvements itself. New playground equipment and a new swing set were installed, along with a half-court basketball court, all new sidewalks and fencing around the park, and new trees and landscaping. “Especially since Caravelle Drive was one of the streets we were paving, we thought it would be appropriate to hold the press conference as the park, where we just completed a series of improvements.”
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