A Proposed Road Diet
Residents along Eggert Road are fed up with fast speeds and a dangerous pedestrian environment along their street.
The Towns of Amherst and Tonawanda, as well as the City of Buffalo and the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, have partnered with the goal of finally addressing this overbuilt corridor by proposing a road diet to reduce it from four to two lanes, which will reduce speeds while maintaining capacity, increase walkability and bikability, and improve the quality of life on the street.
Timeline
September 2020
- A resident contacts the Amherst Traffic Safety Board to express concerns that the speeds along Eggert Road, between Main Street and Grover Cleveland Highway, are too fast, suggesting that a road diet along that particular stretch may improve safety and livability. The 22 crashes in the previous 3 years along this small portion of the corridor alone corroborate this concern.
October 2020
- The Amherst Traffic Safety Board agrees that Eggert Road should be dieted, but believes the road could be dieted along its entire stretch within the town, rather than just the small stretch mentioned. They send a letter to the Erie County Department of Public Works, who maintain the road, requesting that a road diet be considered.
January 2021
- Erie County DPW responds stating that the town will need to conduct a capacity study before anything can be done, even though NYSDOT recommends that all 4 lane undivided highways with average daily traffic of less than 15,000 vehicles be automatically considered for a road diet, and Kensington Ave (also a County road) was dieted without such a requirement.
March 2021
- The Town of Tonawanda, which Eggert Road also runs through, agrees that they would like the scope of the road diet expanded to incorporate all of Eggert Road within Tonawanda as well.
May 2021
- The Towns of Amherst and Tonawanda jointly reach out to the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC) to request assistance with the capacity study, as neither town has the capabilities or funds to perform the study on their own. During the initial GBNRTC meeting discussion on this item, the City of Buffalo expresses interest in extending the scope through the city line to the Route 33 on/off ramps.
June 2021
- The GBNRTC agrees to conduct the required capacity study on behalf of the three requesting municipalities, including traffic modeling for reduced lanes, left turn lane needs, intersection storage lengths, etc. Currently awaiting results of the study.
Current Scope of the Eggert Road Diet
Reimagining Eggert Road
Project Partner
Have any thoughts about Eggert Road? We want to hear from you!
Have any thoughts about Eggert Road? We want to hear from you!