ANGOLA — Accadia Landscaping, the contractor on the Erie County project of rebuilding Angola’s Main Street, is nearing completion of the first phase of the work.

A $4,130,469.20 contract covers work that began at Route 20 last October and runs through the center of the Village to a point on North Main St at Woodward Avenue. Last fall the area from Route 20 to Hardpan Road was completed and included stabilizing the shoulders of the road, re-grading the shoulders for better drainage, the striping off of the old black top from the original two-lane concrete pavement and installing new heavy black top paving to accommodate the daily heavy truck traffic from Route 20 to and from the Goya Processing Center and the adjacent Distribution Center. Work continued with the removal of a mid-1930’s disintegrated staircase that ran from the sidewalk in the underpass up to the original buildings of the Bison Canning Company.

The stairway was beyond repair and was actually no longer needed in that location. Temporary pavement was placed on the milled roadway under the Norfolk Southern Railroad overpass to get a decent surface for the winter. New storm drainage along both sides of South Main Street was installed up until the project was shut down for the winter.

During the early spring, work resumed with the construction of a 36-inch storm drain on Maple Street. The new drain line runs from Main Street by the National Grid building to the dead end of the street and then on through a grassy and wooded area to an old, out-fall area near Big Sister Creek.

History surfaced when excavation work on Maple Street uncovered trolley tracks adjacent to the driveway that runs to the Town Press building as that driveway is on the right-of-way roadbed for the Buffalo and Lake Erie Interurban Trolley Line that ran through that area on its way to School Street and Main Street. The tracks curved out onto a double set of tracks on Main Street in front of the Congregational Church and ran south on Main Street and curved onto Commercial Street which is also a brick road. The trolley station was a commercial building right on the corner where the Crosby’s store is now located. The original 1911 brick road could be seen, along with the tracks, when black top was removed before the new paving was installed.

Work then began on South Main Street and saw the installation of concrete gutters or swales along both sides of the road between the Norfolk Southern and CSX Railroad tracks. The swales are designed to not only collect water run-off from the pavement and direct it into the new storm lines and large drains, but also serve in place of curbs and separate the pavement from the lawn area adjacent to the sidewalks.

During the excavation along the east side of South Main Street, an abandoned gasoline tank was found in front of the Pierogi House as the building was at one time Feldman’s Farmers Feed Store and they sold Gulf gasoline. When construction for new drainage moved to the Village center, a similar gasoline tank was found in front of what is now the Garden Gate building. A Mr. Cook had a car repair / tire store in the northern half of that building. Both tanks were removed by the contractor and disposed of, along with contaminated soil, in accordance with EPA regulations and supervision.

The next phase of new storm line installation covered the area from the CSX tracks through to Woodward Avenue. The fairly new curb and sidewalk area in the center of the Village was maintained and repaired where and as the new construction required. The section of the project from Center Street to North Main Street and Orchard Avenue in front of the Garage Fitness building received new traditional curbing to replace next to non-existant, original concreate and stone curbs. From the intersection at North Main Street and Orchard Avenue new drainage and the swale concrete drainage system was continued to Woodward Avenue, at the end of the Phase One project.

Phase Two of the project is nearing design completion by the DiDonato Engineering Group of Buffalo and includes all new drainage, the curb / swale system, and of course new paving over that portion of North Main Street from Woodward Avenue to the Village line at Beverly Drive and on to the Beach Road intersection and Evans Center. An outlet for drainage in the Phase Two area is projected to be on what is called Old Cemetery Road, which runs off the east side of North Main Street across from Henry Drive.

A major improvement north beyond the Village line will include a 5-foot wide ADA compliant sidewalk past the school bus garage entrance and on to the Beach Road intersection. It will replace the open ditch drainage area and close to non-existing road shoulder. The walkway will allow interconnection with the paved blacktop walkway on Beach Road. It will complete a long planned walkway that will run along Beach Road, Route 5, Lake Street, and through the Village on North Main Street.

Work from Beach Road to Evans Center and Route 5 is planned to stabilize and widen the shoulders, improve drainage and repave the surface of the road over the original concrete road that starts at Beverly Drive and runs through Evans Center to Route 5.

Finishing work on Phase One includes all new concrete driveway aprons, associated landscaping between the sidewalk and curbed drainage areas, new historical street signs, and soon to follow all new traffic information and control signage, cross walks and parking spaces where appropriate.

Mayor Hub Frawley and the Village Board want to extend thanks and appreciation to all involved with the long planned and much needed updating work including the DiDonato Engineering Firm, Accadia Contracting, County Legislator John Mills who advocated for the work for several years, the support of County Executive Mark Poloncarz who was a key to the project and of course, project administrator for the county Melissa Anderson and Village DPW Crew Chief Jack Krajacic.

“Thanks are extended to village residents and all who may have been inconvenienced by the work but what has been completed and planned is well worth the inconvenience,” stated William Houston, village deputy mayor.