Tonawanda Creek Road Re-Opens

 June 24, 2009

After nearly five years, Tonawanda Creek Road in Clarence is finally re-opened to traffic.  Erie County Executive Chris Collins cut the ribbon to reopen the road, along with State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer, Erie County Legislator Ray Walter, and Clarence Supervisor Scott Bylewski.  Local residents were also on hand.

Tonawanda Creek Road collapsed June 24, 2004 after a series of heavy storms during that May and June.  The road has been closed since that day.  In August, the May/June storms were declared a disaster by the federal government, making the project eligible for FEMA assistance.  Four years of investigation, analysis, field and laboratory testing went into the rebuilding of the road.  The project went to bid last fall and Accadia Construction began work in December of 2008. More than 2,000 dry mix soil columns were installed before construction was completed. 

County Executive Collins said, “This is a big day, five years in the making for residents and business owners in Clarence.  I’m happy my administration was able to push through the reconstruction of this road because of our commitment to this project and our productive working relationship with Accadia Construction.  Erie County has an aging infrastructure.  We need to continue to invest county dollars and leverage state and federal resources to repair and reconstruct our community’s roads and bridges.”

State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer said, “This has been a project which I have worked on for five years. Thank you to both the residents and the community for their patience and perseverance. I am glad that we were finally able to get the job done."

Erie County Legislator Ray Walter said, “One of my top priorities upon taking office was to see through to completion Tonawanda Creek Road, as well as rebuilding the roads and bridges throughout the district.  I want to thank County Executive Collins and Commissioner Sentz for their diligence in completing this project."

Clarence Supervisor Scott Bylewski said, “I’m very thankful for Tonawanda Creek Road to be reopened.  It is a vital east-west road in Clarence.  I know residents in the Town were looking forward to today.”

While final costs are still being calculated, this reconstruction project is expected to cost approximately $2 million.  Under the funding agreement, Erie County is due to be reimbursed for 75% of the design and construction costs by FEMA and 12.5% by New York State.  The project involved 750 feet of roadway.