HAMBURG, N.Y. -- The New York State Department of Transportation held a public hearing Wednesday night to go over proposed changes to Route 5 in Hamburg.
The DOT wants to improve the intersection of Route 5 and Bayview Road where there are more accidents than the statewide average. The state's preferred plan would eliminate the Bayview access road that crosses between eastbound and westbound Route 5. Instead, Hoover Road would be realigned to meet up with Route 5, and along with an extended Lake Erie Boulevard, would create a four-way intersection with traffic lights.
The DOT says this will be helpful once the new Fed-Ex facility opens.
"You have traffic that's coming at you from one direction, and you have to make a decision whether it's safe to cross or not and we do have conflicts in this particular intersection. So I don't think that anyone would disagree that something needs to be done. Now we just have to agree on what is the best alternative to move forward," says the DOT's Susan Surdej.
Construction is scheduled to start next summer. You have until September 9 to send your opinion to the DOT.
