Lake Shore Drive work adds impatience
OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford A woman yells at a flagger during a delay caused by road construction on Route 5.
OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Repaving has begun on Route 5, aka Lake Shore Drive, in the city of Dunkirk.
OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford A woman yells at a flagger during a delay caused by road construction on Route 5.
OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Repaving has begun on Route 5, aka Lake Shore Drive, in the city of Dunkirk.
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Lake Shore Drive is a mess right now.
The state Department of Transportation has started a project to repave the road in the city of Dunkirk, which carries Route 5. Most of the road was milled down to grooved pavement as of Tuesday morning. Motorists had to weave around construction equipment.
The eastbound lane from Main Street to the city line was freshly paved, but closed to traffic. The one-lane roadway caused some anger, which the OBSERVER witnessed.
Westbound traffic was stopped at the eastern city line by a flagger for about 15 minutes. The delay caused multiple people to leave their cars and scream abuse at the flagger.
"Come on, we all got s-- to do!" yelled one frustrated woman.
A minute later, a single eastbound car came through the one open lane. "We're stopped for one car?" the woman groused.
"It better be the president," she said. It did not appear that Donald Trump was in the vehicle.
Another minute later, the flagger opened the road and everyone jumped back in their vehicles. "Finally," the woman snapped as traffic lurched to a restart.
Route 5 is still closed a few miles down the road, at the Canadaway Creek Bridge in the town of Dunkirk. Workers are replacing the bridge.