Submitted Photo This section of the Thurway on Seneca Nation territory is in bad need of repair.

OBSERVER Staff Report

U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, is responding to New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent statements concerning his decision not to repair the New York State Thruway.

Cuomo, in a meeting with the media on Tuesday, said until the dilemma regarding casino revenues are settled between the Seneca Nation and the state, the road will remain in the horrible condition. The stretch of road runs for about three miles east of the Silver Creek exit.

“What you do with a bully is stand up to them,” Reed said Thursday. “Even more importantly, when that bully puts the innocent public in harm’s way just because he is more interested in political wins then public safety you take action. This sure sounds like a misuse of federal funds and abuse of power coming out of the Governor’s office.”

Local motorists have reached out to Reed’s office in recent weeks expressing their own concern with Interstate 90 road conditions through the Seneca Nation.

One motorist had this to say: “Just today, we hit a huge hole traveling through that stretch coming to our home (off the) Dunkirk-Fredonia exit and we broke a tie rod and something else, and we lost the ability to steer properly. We had our 11-year-old daughter in the car. We were lucky that we or other people did not get killed. Ultimately, we had to wait on the side of the road for an hour for a tow truck.”

Another motorist said he is tired of the political conflict and just wants to see the road fixed. “… This highway is how people travel to our area here in Chautauqua County. Without a decent road, we have less people wanting to drive to our area. That means less money coming to our area. Fix the road – I am sick of driving through this each time I drive up to Buffalo.”