AUGUST 29, 2008

Konst demands that NYSDOT Stop all work on Route 219 project Section

Erie County Legislator Kathy Konst (D-Lancaster, Elma) is demanding that the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) stop all work on the Route 219 project Section 5 immediately.

"This project has cost the taxpayers of New York State over 100 million dollars with no end in sight," Legislator Konst said. "And with the landslides on Scoby Hill this project has become a public safety issue."

"Individuals are now losing their homes and businesses because the NYSDOT did not do their home work," Legislator Konst added. "There are studies that were completed, as part of the West Valley Demonstration Project in 1979, that refer to the area were the landslide occurred as 'landslides, slumps.' The NYSDOT did not take this into consideration when it was designing the project."

"This was a missed opportunity by the NYSDOT. They should have used geotechnical reports so that they would have been informed of the geohazards, and the risks associated with this section of Highway, in and around Scoby Hill Road," Legislator Konst added. "It is time to stop construction... We as elected officials are the voice for the people, and need to hold the state accountable. I plan to do just that."

US Route 219 is a north-south highway connecting Buffalo to Salamanca, New York, at Interstate 86, and then continuing on to Pennsylvania. The current project is a 4.2-mile extension of Route 219 which begins at Route 39 in Springville and extends to Peters Road in Ashford. The original cost of the project was $85,685,250.50. As a result of the unstable land and landslide on Scoby Hill Road, the new estimate for this project is well over $100,000,000.

Legislator Konst has also sent a letter to County Executive Chris Collins to formally request that the county revoke the use of Scoby Hill Dam Park to the NYSDOT until further notice. Under a memo of understanding with Erie County, the NYSDOT has permission to utilize a portion of the Scoby Hill Park in Springville as a staging area for the construction phase of the project. Access to the park has now been lost due to landslides in the area.

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