Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Tonawanda Town Board is scheduled to host a public meeting on Monday to discuss proposed traffic pattern changes that would look to slow down traffic along Colvin Boulevard between Sheridan Drive and Kenmore Avenue.
Tonawanda Town Supervisor Joe Emminger says officials have been looking at traffic patterns on Colvin Boulevard for quite some time.
"I'm going to estimate we've been looking at this for, at least six, seven years," said Emminger in an interview with WBEN. "Colvin Boulevard has been a source of a lot of accidents over the last five years, between Kenmore Avenue and Sheridan Drive, over 75 accidents have occurred in that five-year timeframe. So something needed to be addressed. There are different areas in that stretch that have different problems. We look at it kind of like North of Highland Avenue, between Highland and Colvin, and then the situation South of Highland, between Highland and Kenmore Avenue."
Among the traffic pattern changes to be discussed as part of Monday's public hearing includes making Colvin Boulevard a three-lane road with a center turning lane for nearly the entire length between Sheridan Avenue and Kenmore Avenue. Then on either side of the road in both directions, there will be designated bike lanes put in place. In addition, parking will be not allowed along Colvin Boulevard, if this is approved going forward.
This isn't the first time that the Town of Tonawanda has explored traffic pattern changes along that stretch of Colvin Boulevard.
"About 18 years ago, we had a situation, another public meeting was called for some traffic changes that we're looking to make on Colvin right in the same area. We were looking at the traffic light at Colvin and Deerhurst, there was a proposal that the Town Board was considering to remove the traffic light, that it wasn't necessary and traffic studies didn't show it was necessary," Emminger said. "We had a public hearing, people showed up to the public hearing, they voiced their concerns. And at the end of the day, we decided to leave the traffic light in for public safety purposes.
"Something has to be done, I think everybody kind of realizes that."
One area of Colvin Boulevard that is of particular concern for Emminger is the intersection of Colvin and Woodcrest Boulevard, where there have been numerous accidents over the last five years, including fatalities.
"At that intersection, coming off of Woodcrest in both directions, we're looking to make it a right turn only in those areas, so you won't be able to cross Colvin, or you won't be able to make left turns onto Colvin from Woodcrest," Emminger noted.
Over the last several days since the town sent an email to residents along that stretch of Colvin Boulevard, Emminger has received a handful of emails and calls with questions about the proposed changed.
"Where are people going to park? Where are the residents going to park, if they have parties? If they have company over, where are the people going to park? Are they going to be able to back out into the street? Those are some of the ones that I've been hearing," Emminger said. "People who have reached out to me personally via email, I've received a couple in support of what is being proposed, and I've received a couple against it. ... I'm sure we'll hear more [questions] on Monday, and we definitely have open minds. No decisions have been made, either for it or against it, and we'll take into account everything that needs to be taken into account."
There are three possible outcomes that Emminger describes as a result of Monday night's public hearing.
"The first thing is we're going to hold the hearing and we will approve what is going to be proposed, making Colvin three lanes of traffic with a center turn lane. The second thing is we're going to hold the hearing and we reject what is being proposed, we don't approve it. And the third thing that could happen is we're going to close the hearing and we will table the motion for further discussion, after we hear what all the residents, pro and con, have to say about the project," he said.
Monday's meeting is slated for 7 p.m. at the Municipal Building in the Village of Kenmore on Delaware Avenue. Emminger says the public hearing should take place early in the meeting, so people who wish to speak their thoughts on the proposed changes should get there early.
"We'll have sign up sheets for the people who want to speak, we'll have sign up sheets for the people to put their names down," Emminger noted. "Each speaker, just so everybody knows ahead of time, is limited to five minutes, in accordance with our rules that we adopted at our organizational meeting earlier this year. So each speaker will be afforded an opportunity to express their opinion, and we're looking forward to hearing what people have to say. I think a lot of the issues are going to be ones that we're familiar with, so I don't think there'll be too many surprises that they're going to bring up. But we want to hear from the public, absolutely. That's why you have a public hearing."