KENMORE, N.Y. — Neighbors on Wardman Road in Kenmore are worried about school buses and emergency vehicles not being able to get down the street.
Since the middle of May, Andy Kucserik and his neighbors have been dealing with a ripped-up road.
"It has been pretty disastrous and relatively unsafe too. If you look around the neighborhood, it's hard to get by here," Kucserik said.
As 2 On Your Side’s Jackie Roberts reported last month, Wardman Road is getting new storm, water and sewer lines, new curbs and sidewalks, and new pavement. But this week neighbors got worried when they saw fire trucks parked on Colvin responding to a call on their street.
"My first thought is if there's an emergency in any one of these houses, they're not going to be able to get through based on cars parked, and then construction vehicles lined up on the road. That's a concern. It's scary. If there's another medical emergency or something, are we in trouble?" Kucserik wonders.
Kenmore Superintendent of Public Works David Root told 2 On Your Side on Thursday: "As for the report of a fire truck not being able to get down the street this is false. I spoke with the Fire Chief after reading this email. The Chief informed me that there was no instance of a truck not getting down the street."
Root also says the Kenmore Fire Chief told him the contractor updates the police and fire departments weekly and daily as needed about any obstructions, but in any situation an emergency response vehicle would be able to service any call on the street.
"Does that make you feel better about the situation?" Dudzik asked.
"No, because as a resident, I still don't know what's happening. I mean, maybe they're updating the fire department, but I would like to know, I don't even know when this is going to be done. I would like to know when I'm going to have lights on the street. I would like to know when I'm going to have a sidewalk and a driveway," Kucserik said.
The curbs and the sidewalks have all been ripped out, but Root says the contractor is going to start working on the curbs next Thursday with the sidewalks to follow.
"We have three weeks to do all of this. I don't know if that's going to do a whole lot. I don't know if it's going to fix everything in the time we need it to," Kucserik says.
"It looks like a lot of work," Dudzik said.
"It looks like a lot of work, and there's no crew out here today. There's no contractor," Kucserik said.
DJM Contracting did not return our call, but Root says according to the contract the "major scope of the work" will be done by November 1.