Road construction season in full swing across Erie County

Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) - "The joke in this area is we have two seasons: We have winter, and then we have orange cone season. Construction season."

With the weather in Western New York finally starting to turn warm and stay dry, road construction across Erie County is in full swing, with several projects already up-and-running toward infrastructure improvements along county roadways.

"This is all part of a $50 million road program that we are doing for 2026 this year," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz while along one of the project sites on McKinley Parkway in the Town of Hamburg. "We've got some major projects that are going on across the county right now, not just this one in McKinley Parkway. We have a big one on Bailey, a big one on Elmwood. We're gonna have another big one start fairly soon on Maple. And then there's another 100 miles of roads that are being done all across Erie County."

Annually, Erie County does road work on about 10% of its roads. The county is responsible for 1,200 miles of center line roads, which is more than 2,400 lane miles.

In addition, the county is responsible for other projects along its roadways that's not just the asphalt people drive on.

"We also have some bridge replacement projects that are going on, along with our road reconstruction. We've got five districts that do some in-house paving on some of the less traffic'd roads, so you're going to see those improvements," said Karen Hoak, deputy commissioner for the county's Department of Public Works. "We just completed Pleasant Avenue in Hamburg, you're going to see portions of Boston State out here that are going to get resurfaced."

More than $3 million will be invested in 12.85 miles of mill and overlay projects across four highway districts:

• In the Concord district, Genesee Road from Rte. 240 to Pratham Road, 1.51 miles
• In the Aurora district, Center from Crump to Holland Glenwood, 1.14 miles
• In the Harlem district, Aero Drive from Youngs Circle to Wehrle (.76 miles) and Indian Church from Buffalo City Line to Mineral Springs (1.47 miles)
• In the Hamburg district, Boston State Road from Mill to Zimmerman (5.27 miles), Webster Rte. 277 to Rte. 20 (1.2 miles), and Pleasant Avenue from RR to I-90 overpass (1.5 miles).

Over $41.7 million in reconstruction projects dominate the infrastructure investment for 2026, with many major county roadways involved:

• Elmwood Ave. from Knoche to Kenmore Avenue, a 1.45-mile stretch, will be reconstructed at a cost of $9.7 million
• $4.7 million will be invested in the reconstruction of 2 miles of McKinley Parkway from Quinby Road to Southwestern Boulevard
• $7.5 million is earmarked for Phase III of the Borden Road reconstruction project, covering 1.13 miles from French Road to Seneca Creek
• The county will invest $3 million for Phase II of the Maple Road project, covering 1.5 miles from North Forest to the bridge over the I-290 and including the bridge spanning Ellicott Creek
• Bailey Avenue from Grover Cleveland to Sheridan Drive will see $7.8 million in federal aid to reconstruct 1.2 miles of road
• Five miles of Greiner Road (from Anfield – Salt, 4.57 miles) and Eggert Road (from Sugar to City Line, .56 miles) are scheduled for $3.5 million in road work
• A $5.5 million investment is planned for North Forest Road (from Maple to Dodge) and Bowen Road (from Seneca to Rice Road)

More than 17 miles of county roads are scheduled to receive cold recycle with top course treatment, representing an investment of over $3.6 million:

• In the Clarence district, Roll from Goodrich to Shimerville (1.26 miles), Bullis from Three Rod to County Line (1.55 miles), Thompson from Clarence Center to Roll (1 mile), and Stahley (entirety, 2.74 miles)
• In the Aurora district, warner Hill from Rte. 16 to Vermont Hill (2.06 miles), Curriers Sardinia from Rte. 16 to Miller (1.13 miles), and Phillips from Partridge to Holland Glenwood (1.5 miles).
• In the Harlem district, Tonawanda Creek from Hopkins to Transit (3.16 miles)
• In the Concord district, Gowanda Zoar from S. Quaker to Lone Road (2.26 miles) and Gowanda Zoar from RR to S. Quaker (.81 miles).

Oil & Chip is back and bigger than ever in 2026, with 45.6 miles of roads in outlying areas receiving this maintenance process from a $1.5 million investment.

Other significant projects include a $2.3 million reconstruction of the Four Rod Road bridge in Marilla and a similar $1.8 million project on the Sharp Street bridge in Concord. Large culverts will be replaced on Jennings Road, Lein Road and Belscher Road in the Towns of Concord, Collins and West Seneca, representing a $2 million investment. Two other large culverts will be installed on Back Creek Road in Boston, another $2 million investment.

Poloncarz reminds drivers across the county to abide by all road construction precautions during this construction season.

"We want to remind everybody, when you are in a work zone, please drive slow. If they have reduced speed limits, follow the speed limits," he said. "Always follow flagger orders. Unfortunately, there was a person who was killed last year on the Thruway in a work zone. We want to avoid that at all times. We want all of our Department of Public Works employees to come home safely every day."