Motorists may have to wait a bit longer to travel Route 5 without a detour in the western part of the town of Dunkirk. The route was supposed to reopen Monday, but that has been delayed according to the town highway superintendent.
Route 5 has been closed since Sept. 26 for culvert work. Highway Superintendent Richard Butts said the road, which is closed between Willow and Van Buren roads, was still not open Tuesday evening.
"I can tell you as we speak, the road is not open. It was supposed to open today," Butts said. "They milled it out yesterday; they laid blacktop today, but it is still closed."
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OBSERVER Photo by Samantha McDonnell
Town of Dunkirk Highway Superintendent Richard Butts said Route 5 was delayed in opening. The route which has been closed since Sept. 26 for work on a culvert was scheduled to reopen Tuesday.
The state is involved and Butts is not sure of the completion date but is hopeful it will be as soon as today. Guard rail work and laying of pipe on the south side is all that is left for the project.
"I'm assuming they can do the pipe line and the guard rail with traffic being open," he said.
Supervisor Richard Purol asked if the construction crews would repair damage to residents' property. Butts stated the damage was from trucks turning around on the property.
"I don't believe it's from the construction. I believe it's from someone going up there where the road closed sign is and turning around in (the resident's) driveway," Butts said. "It's beyond our control and (construction company's) control."
Town Attorney Jeffrey Passafaro said the signs for road closure are in compliance with state requirements.
"The state will say it was all properly marked and it was," he said.
Butts also brought a recommendation before the town board to lower speed limits within the town. Butts would like to lower the speed on roads in the western part of the town to 40 mph and those in the residential part of the eastern part of the town to 35 mph. Currently, speeds are 55 in the western part of town and 40 in the eastern part of town.
"The board has to adopt a policy that all town roads in the town off of Route 5 will be lowered to 40 miles per hour," Butts said.
Butts will bring a formal proposal with specific roads on which he would like to see the speed lowered at a later town board meeting. If the board approves the proposal, it will be sent to the county and then to the state department of transportation.
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