GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. — The new proposal for a huge e-commerce facility on Grand Island officially went before the town planning board Monday.
It's called "Project Olive" and even though attorneys representing the developers would not reveal who is behind the project — it's believed to be Amazon.
This 145 acre site would bring 1,000 jobs and 300 more construction jobs. But it's the traffic that seems to be on everyone's minds, which is why attorneys representing TC Buffalo Development say a traffic study was completed.
"The data was collected during higher traffic volume times in what you would consider to be January and February," said the project's traffic engineer.
She says they studied nine intersections and it ultimately found there would need to be a few improvements made to ease congestion.
One of them includes a new traffic signal at Interstate 190 and Long Road.
The other includes adding a right turning lane where Interstate 190 Northbound off-ramp meets Grand Island Boulevard.
"So there would be two lanes for traffic exiting the ramp. That will help traffic that wants to go to this site to be able to make a left or right turn to get to the driveways easier," said the project's traffic engineer.
The public was not able to comment at the meeting; however, members of the Grand Island Town Board asked several questions about how drivers were be able to manage getting on and off the island from the bridges, which they admit is already a disaster.
A traffic engineer on the project says the solution is creating shifts for employees that don't begin and end with during the same time as rush hour.
"The peak hours don't correspond with your typical commuter peaks. so the traffic at those two points would be considerably less when the employees are coming to and from work," she said.
Still, town board members told attorneys representing TC Buffalo Development they need to take a look at how construction of the project would impact drivers as well. Especially during the summer months, when there's an increase in the amount of drivers on the bridges.
A public hearing will be held next on April 8 at Grand Island High School at 7 p.m.