OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Work is underway at the future location of Brooks-TLC Hospital in Fredonia on East Main Street near the roundabout.

The new $223 million Brooks-TLC Hospital now under construction in Fredonia will have a smaller driveway off Route 60 than planners had hoped.

The Fredonia Planning Board approved an amended site plan for the project Wednesday that allows for a one-way exit onto Route 60 from the new hospital. Planners wanted a two-way driveway, allowing entry to the hospital campus off Route 60.

“I’m really glad to be here this time and say we’ve started construction,” said hospital project counsel Marc Romanowski, who has attended Fredonia Planning Board meetings for almost a decade now to offer updates and make requests.

Heavy earth-moving equipment is now a regular feature at the hospital site, located in a former grape field off East Main Street. A formal ground-breaking ceremony is rumored to be just a couple weeks away.

However, there is a sticking point: According to Romanowski, Wamart is not moving very fast on negotiations to sell the land needed for a two-way driveway off Route 60. The main driveway will be off East Main Street, but officials demanded a second access point over traffic concerns.

“They move glacially, is really the best way to describe it,” Romanowski said of Walmart. “We think ultimately it will go through.”

However, in the meantime, financiers don’t want to offer money for a project which doesn’t own all the land that appears on its site plans. “They won’t give financing if they see we don’t own the property,” Romanowski said.

Therefore, Brooks-TLC had to offer a slightly amended plan that calls for just a one-way, right-turn-only driveway to Route 60.

“Ultimately, it’s still our intention to build that second lane, but we need to get the land under our control,” Romanowski repeated.

“I know it’s slightly confusing. It’s just the realities of dealing with financing,” he added. “I don’t want to convey the idea that they’re reluctant to do it, but they’re really slow moving.”

Romanowski said the time frame for construction of the hospital remains the same. It could be up to two years before construction is at the stage where the Route 60 driveway is paved, he said.

“Our lenders need to see an approval from you guys that matches what we control,” Romanowski told the planning board. The board gave him what he asked for.

Brooks-TLC parent Kaleida Health does already control a thin strip of property leading from the hospital site to Route 60, according to county land records. The strip is about 15 feet wide when it meets Route 60.

A look at the area shows the driveway will be a tight fit. An entrance to Walmart is directly adjacent to the north, while a new Sonic restaurant has rolled up next to it to the south.

The new facility is expected to incorporate medical office space with outpatient services in a 133,000-square-foot one-story site. That will include 15 medical and surgical beds with an additional five observation beds. In addition, the Emergency Department capacity will increase from nine bays to 16 and include designated trauma, bariatric and sexual assault services.