Springville, NY - There's a renewed push to jumpstart plans for an expansion of the Rt. 219 expressway. State officials are looking at potential federal funding for the project with recognition of new construction work and planning in states to the south.
Back in 2010 the opening of a four mile extension of Route 219 took traffic below Springville into Ashford in Cattaraugus County. But plans to finish a 24 mile link down to the Southern Tier and the Penna. state line stalled out.
Now comes this statement from the State Transportation Commissioner "It's something that we're very cognizant of. It's on our radar and we continue to work with all the partners to see how we can address that."
They must address a potential one billion dollar construction cost according to Driscoll. But State Senator Cathy Young says "There are so many capital dollars set aside for transportation right now in New York state and that the federal government has approved construction dollars for the first time in many, many years where they've done a major allocation."
Couple that with current construction in Pennsylvania on a new 11 mile stretch of the 219 and both Pennsylvania and Maryland working together with the federal highway administration on planning a further extension into Maryland. It's part of the overall proposed Continental One trade route linking Toronto with Miami. But State Assemblyman Joseph Giglio says again here in New York "So you have our gap. So now there's two ways to look at this gap. one way is to continue on the way we were going or maybe come back the other way and move north to try to get this jumpstarted again."
The new "moving north" option links the Southern Tier Express way - Interstate 86 with a new link to the 219 and then pushing north. The new plan is tied to the regional economy with quicker direct truck access to the highway for big employer companies like Dresser Rand. Firms must now wind their trucks through Salamanca and local roads or portions of the narrow 219 to go north. Otherwise they have to go west to the Thruway.
But what about the Seneca Nation since a new highway might cross their territory. Senator Young says there must be further discussions but "They just wrote a letter to the Governor in general support of completing the project."
2 on Your Side did not hear back from a representative for the Seneca Nation. There also was no response from Congressman Tom Reed. But Young and Giglio say Reed does back the extension plan and would have to lobby on behalf of the state to seek out federal funding.