"Farewell, Potholes"

With the help of state and federal funding, the City of Buffalo will embark on a major reconstruction of Main Street near South Campus at the end of March.

Of particular interest to students, the $16.1 million project will reconfigure the intersections at Kenmore Avenue and Bailey Avenue - areas that currently confound drivers and pedestrians.

Ultimately, Main Street's utility lines will be rebuilt and its pavement will be replaced from Bailey Avenue to Hertel Avenue, through the University Heights strip. Officials said they expect to complete the project in 2006.

According to John Bidell, the poor condition of the road surface has created a need for a large-scale reconstruction.

"The entire roadway will be rebuilt," Bidell said, "Patchwork just isn't going to do it anymore," said Bidell.

According to Bidell, city taxpayers will foot the bill for 5 percent of the reconstruction bill. Eighty percent of the funding will come from federal highway funds, and the remaining 15 percent is from New York State Department of Transportation funding.

Along the proposed stretch of construction, Kenmore Avenue will be reconfigured so it joins Main Street at a right angle, instead of the current acute angle.

Ronald Mandell, the city's resident engineer, said that rebuilding the dangerous Kenmore Avenue intersection was the projects first priority. The new 90-degree angle will allow for better vision for traffic.

Another priority for the project will be the "jersey left," a short jog right that Main Street drivers must take before turning left onto Bailey Avenue. The "jersey left" will be widened and expanded, with a new comfort station added for bus drivers.

Near the South Campus subway station, the Main-Bailey lot will have two new entrances onto Main Street. Crosswalks will be redesigned and timed traffic lights will be installed.

According to the plans, the area will also benefit from a long list of decorative touches including benches, trees and even two small park areas near the rebuilt Kenmore Ave.

While taxpayers will pay only five percent of the costs, Heights residents will bear the costs of increased commuting times to North Campus.

Project officials plan to try to have one lane of traffic open in each direction. However, they acknowledge that drive times will increase.

"It's going to be tough to get through there," Bidell said. "We're going to tell people to add a half an hour to their drive time."

The university is preparing students by running advisements on WBFO to warn commuters of the upcoming work. Richard Noll, manager of planning and programming at University Facilities, said that commuting students should, if possible, plan a new route.

For Heights residents, the other direct route to North Campus is to take Niagara Falls Boulevard north, turn right on Maple Road, and left on Flint Road.

Noll added that commuters to South Campus can expect delays as well, especially when work begins on the stretch of Main Street near the Main-Bailey Lot.

"There is an inconvenience involved," Noll said. "The project will affect access to UB's South Campus."

Bidell said he felt confident that the traffic issues around South Campus will be moderate because construction officials say they plan to do the bulk of the work over the summer.

"We're hoping to have all construction around the campus done by December," said Bidell.

But while city officials synchronize their watches to finish construction in December, students who live in the area have been left to wonder when someone was going to tell them about the upcoming makeover.

"The thing that I find is frustrating is it seems like they need to give advanced notice before construction," said Sara Weatherup, a graduate student in anthropology.

Joseph DeRose, a freshman sociology major, echoed Weatherup's surprise at the news of construction, and said he didn't think crossing Kenmore was a problem.

"It's not dangerous. It might just take a while," he said.

Once work on campus is completed, construction crews will move south into University Heights, where they will repave Main Street and replace its sewer lines, prolonging what many students think will be an unwelcome inconvenience.

"In Buffalo, there are two seasons: construction and winter," said Weatherup. "We all want the convenience of good roads without the inconvenience of roadwork."