| Citing increasing traffic along William Street and Losson Road, the Town Board continues to encourage the New York State Thruway Authority to build an interchange at Broadway nearly 15 years after the authority built a similar interchange for William Street.
Traffic has spiked dramatically along William Street and Losson Road since the Thruway’s Exit 53 opened in 1993. As the Town of Lancaster and other municipalities to the east grew, many drivers began using the exit and the two county roads during their commutes.
The situation inspired the New York State Department of Transportation to enlarge the Union Road-William-Losson intersections and their approaches in 2002 to accommodate the increased load of traffic.
Despite these improvements, problems persist, including complaints of traffic back-ups at the intersection of Losson and Towers Boulevard. The entrance and exit for Stiglmeier Park occupies the north side of that intersection.
Councilmember James Rogowski said that urban sprawl in Lancaster and Elma is affecting residents who live in this neighborhood, noting traffic accidents are on the rise along the corridor.
“It has become a public safety issue for the residents who walk and cross into Stiglmeier Park,” Rogowski said, adding, “you can only turn one car during rush hour, which causes a backlog of traffic down Losson.”
The board on Monday officially asked the Thruway Authority to expedite a traffic study that was initiated in 2004 and build the ramps.
Rogowski said a Broadway ramp would spur economic development along the road, which already has several commercial and industrial addresses.
“We have a strong impact along William Street, which is mostly residential,” Rogowski said. “There’s an opportunity here to create economic development in the Broadway corridor.”
A pair of studies commissioned by the town in 1997 and performed by traffic consultant URS Greiner indicated that the William exit “sharply increased traffic flow” on both streets. Released in 2000, the studies also recommended adding a Broadway interchange.
A Times article from July 2002 indicated that residents along Losson were complaining of midnight truck traffic along their street.
Since the DOT completed a major reconstruction of Broadway in 2004, local officials have intensified their position that Broadway is a better route for commuters and commercial traffic than William and Losson.
Councilmember Tom Johnson noted that Jack Quinn– when Quinn was the local representative in Congress– secured $3 million in federal money for traffic improvements in Cheektowaga.
Most of that money– $1.7 million– was used by the DOT and Thruway Authority for the aforementioned study to determine traffic patterns along the Thruway and adjoining roads.
Johnson, who has been advocating a Broadway ramp since the mid-1990s, also called “ironic” a response he received from a local Thruway Authority representative indicating that last year’s removal of the South Ogden Street and Black Rock toll barriers left the authority without money to perform the project.
“I reminded him that Congressman Quinn got us the money for the design and to initiate the project,” Johnson said. “His response was that the toll barriers changed the study, because it has an impact on the traffic.”
According to Johnson, that “impact” has added more traffic to the area.
The resolution was sponsored by Johnson. Rogowski was expected to second the motion, but instead asked for– and received– a unanimous second.
“This is too important,” Rogowski said. “We need to get traffic off William Street.”
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