Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After a longer than expected revitalization and complete reconstruction of Allen Street in the City of Buffalo, the finishing touches are being implemented in the final stages of the project.
Buffalo's Commissioner for the Department of Public Works, Nate Marton says the project is in its final phase, being the whole Allen Street corridor from Delaware Avenue all the way down to Wadsworth Avenue. This includes the intersection of Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue that has been closed for some considerable time.
"The final phase of a long project to some, but for us, to clarify, it's a little bit different than a normal milling and paving, which goes pretty quickly in the public's eye. This is a full rebuild," said Marton at an event at the Tifft Street Pier on Wednesday. "Not only taking that street surface off, but then replacing the utilities. That's been, I think, a little bit of a challenge from a perception standpoint of why this takes longer than normal a street. It's because we're doing so much more work in the project."
Marton says there is good news when it comes to the timing of this project in its final phase. There is hope that construction at the intersection of Allen and Elmwood will be wrapped up in short order, allowing for it to be opened as soon as next week to vehicular traffic. He adds some good work from the contractor and the weather have been helpful in the process.
From there, the project will then shift all resources to the final piece of the project, the stretch of Allen Street between Elmwood and Wadsworth.
"Originally we were projecting Oct. 15, we're going to try to pull that in as quick as we can, make that faster," Marton said. "We want to get projects done and get out of the way as well. So as soon as we can get that next phase done, we'll get it out of the way."
Marton knows this project has been more difficult on businesses and residents in the area, because it was a full rebuild of the infrastructure along Allen Street.
"A simple mill and pave gets out of the way, but this is that larger reconstruction that has the underground utility built in. So it's a little bit more of a challenge for us, and it's been a challenge for, obviously, those on the streets," Marton said.
Marton and his staff with the Department of Public Works have been appreciative of the public's patience with this project, especially since he took his role with the city as this project was well-underway.
During the entirety of the project, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown asked Public Works personnel to go out and talk with the businesses and staff to make sure not only they understood the timeline, but also of any changes that were coming for others to prepare for.
"We know there are some unhappy business owners, to listen to what they have to say, to take the complaints, to hear the frustration that people have. Sometimes that helps us to improve processes going forward," said Mayor Brown on Wednesday at the Tifft Street Pier. "Obviously, nobody likes to hear complaints and hear that people are unhappy, but you have to listen to those things to improve what you're doing to make sure things are better for everyone."
The mayor's message to the Public Works department was to extensively listen to the businesses on Allen Street, to make modifications that could be made, and to work with them to make sure the experience was, and is a positive one for workers and customers.
"We have regular meetings, bi-weekly meetings with the community. We actually have them in a facility on Allen Street," Marton said. "Every other Thursday, we have those meetings where we do meet regularly with the community. We've got a liaison that reaches out to the community members along the entire project, we've had that. Certainly this last phase we're continuing to engage that. So we're trying to have that dialogue."
In the meantime, businesses along the stretch of Allen Street have long had to adjust to the construction days, making every day operations a bit more of a chore. Mayor Brown says he is always concerned when businesses are not happy with the disruptions of a project of this magnitude. However, he assures those businesses this project will assist them and help make conditions better along Allen Street for the long-term.
"I know there have been a number of complaints, certainly not happy about it. I would like to have the business community on Allen happy, I know the project has taken a long period of time," Brown said.
"Certainly we appreciate people's patience with that. Many businesses have hung in there with that. Public Works is working very quickly, very aggressively now to finally complete the project so the benefits that were designed, working with businesses and residents in that area will be realized by the business. One of those design features was to slow down traffic so for pedestrians, the street would be safer. And also to give shoppers the opportunity to spend more time in restaurants and retailers, and spend money."
With that in mind, Marton admits there is an added element of urgency now to finish up the project and allow for business to flow as planned for Allen Street.
"We've been working with our contractor to try to push everything quickly. I mean, it just takes a long time to do some of that work," he said. "Unfortunately, again, it's the digging down, it's replacing the infrastructure that's a little bit unusual. We're shifting resources, and we're gonna move as fast as we can with our contractor to get out of everybody's way and get finished with the entire project. And then left-to-right, the whole thing will be done."
Meanwhile, much has been made recently about the need to help local small businesses in the City of Buffalo that may need assistance still coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the Buffalo Common Council approved a Small Business Grant Program that will make some relief money available for small businesses who qualify.
Mayor Brown says any of the small businesses on Allen Street can certainly apply for any assistance needed thanks to this new program, even for those who may have been affected by the construction disruptions.
"The Small Business Grant Program was something I proposed months ago to provide grants to small businesses city-wide, to provide grants to minority businesses. That will provide some money that will be available to assist businesses on Allen Street that might need grants, but also in every single section of our city," Brown said. "We have matched that with a loan program, where businesses can also get low interest loans if they need it. The grant program is $3.5 million, and the loan program on top of the grant program is another $2 million. So while it is not an unlimited source of money, it is enough money to help many businesses in every section of the city."
