Harlem Road reconstruction enters final season
by KEATON T. DEPRIEST Cheektowaga Editor

The second year of the Harlem Road reconstruction project will resume Tuesday, April 1, with the first phase of work for the season beginning at Seton Road and continuing north to Cleveland Drive where the first of three roundabouts will be installed.

DiPizio Construction, the firm awarded the work bid by the New York State Department of Transportation, is on schedule to complete the $20.4 million, two-mile-long project by December.

The overall scope of the construction will widen and revamp Harlem Road from its intersection with Genesee Street to the Kensington Avenue and Wehrle Drive crossings.

Last year, DiPizio completed construction from Genesee Street to Seton Road. The work included new storm sewer drainage, new asphalt, road widening and reconstruction of the entrance and exit ramps of the Kensington Expressway.

Susan Surdej, public information officer for the DOT, said this year's first phase of construction ranges from Seton Road to Cleveland Drive and will include new curb cuts and asphalt while traffic is shifted to one lane in each direction.

After the first phase of construction is complete, the first roundabout will be installed at the intersection of Cleveland Drive and Harlem Road. Surdej said the initial phase is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.

The second phase of construction will begin at Cleveland Drive and head north to Saratoga Drive and includes the installation of the other two roundabouts at Wehrle Drive near the Kensington Avenue crossing.

Traffic in the second phase will also be shifted to one lane in each direction.

Surdej said the work should progress quickly in the second half of the year, with the construction including the addition of decorative street lighting, retaining walls at the intersection of Cleveland Drive and new sidewalks on the east side of Harlem Road.

"In the second phase, you will see a lot of aesthetics installed that were recommendations by the towns of Cheektowaga and Amherst," Surdej said.

Although the construction does depend highly on the weather, she said the work will begin within the next couple of weeks and will not end for the season until the job is complete.

"(DiPizio) is ready for this," Surdej said. "They are all geared up to begin April 1."