Hot patching latest sign of Buffalo/Erie County collaborations

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN)...Bailey Avenue may not seem like a classroom, but it is.

Erie County publics works crews are using portions of Bailey Avenue as a hands-on teaching course for their Buffalo DPW counterparts about how to use hot patch materials to fill in potholes.

Hot patch is considered a public works basic for filling in pot holes and other road repairs, but, according to Mayor Sean Ryan it has been absent from the city's road work arsenal for more than 25 years.

Instead Buffalo was relying on more expensive cold patch that is far less effective.

Ryan, when he took office in January, asked Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and county Public Works Commissioner Bill Geary if, come spring time, they could teach the city crews how to install hot patch materials.

"It was an easy ask," Poloncarz said.

The teaching exercise, which just began, is the latest example of how Buffalo and Erie County are collaborating on a wide range of ventures..

'The days of Buffalo going it are over," Ryan said.

Ryan said he is excited to see his own DPW team jumping into the hot patch learning exercises with a lot of enthusiasm.

"We are going to build our own 'A Team', so that we can take on projects like this (filling in Bailey Avenue's potholes) ourselves in the future," Ryan said.

Training is critical, said Deputy Mayor Ben Swanekamp.

"Our crews need to stand on their own," Swanekamp said.

Erie County, especially since 2020, has been a collaborative partner with Buffalo. Governmental partnerships are critical, the county executive said.

Poloncarz said the county has invested more than $64 million in various Buffalo collaborations.

"At the end of the day, these collaborations are about quality of life issues," said University District Councilman Rasheed N.C. Wyatt.