Major Changes Coming To Niagara Falls Blvd?

Some big changes could be happening in the Wheatfield area of Niagara Falls Blvd. There will be a meeting for the public to voice their opinions and concerns about the intersection of Ward and Whitmer Road happening on Wednesday afternoon starting at 4 at the Wheatfield Community Center.

This project on Niagara Falls Blvd. and Wheatfield is reported to begin in 2022.

Niagara Falls Blvd. is one of the busiest roads in the western New York area no matter what time of day but especially on the weekends and also morning and afternoon drive. It is a challenge for pedestrians to cross the road at nearly every intersection but the ward and Witmer Road intersection seems to have a few more accidents than others.

At the Witmer Road intersection, dedicated left-turn lanes will be added to both legs of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Witmer Road. At the request of the town and county, Niagara County’s Oppenheim Park driveway will be realigned across from Witmer Road to create a four-legged intersection. This will necessitate the installation of a new box culvert to carry Sawyer Creek under the new driveway.

As proposed, the intersection of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Ward Road will be widened to accommodate the addition of dedicated left-turn lanes on all four legs of the intersection. The existing concrete box culvert carrying Sawyer Creek under Ward Road will be replaced.

Like Transit Road, Niagara Falls Blvd. is notoriously busy around the shopping centers such as the area near Target and Lowe’s. Those who say that the western New York and Buffalo area is small have apparently never driven on either route in the afternoons and dealt with the traffic and long lines at the red lights. The problem seems to be multiple lanes in both directions and getting pedestrians to cross safely is the biggest challenge.

I grew up in East Aurora and now live in the Hamburg area and no the flow of traffic very well around the traffic circles. Although they may not be suitable for Niagara Falls Blvd., they have helped to improve the flow of traffic on both Main Street in East Aurora and Hamburg as well. The biggest problem that I’ve seen in those areas is that there are drivers who are not familiar with who gets the right of way when in a traffic circle. I would say there is a need for at least one or two more in the Hamburg Orchard Park area. For me, the most dangerous intersection that would be improved by a traffic circle is the intersection near the Erie County Fair of Clark and McKinley Parkway.

Summer of 2021 is in full swing and if you have an hour driving you noticed there are way more cars on the road than last year and with more events planned and people doing more things this summer with family, it is even more important to pay attention when driving around Western New York area.