City Has a Long Road Ahead to Fix Potholes By Tourist Time
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As the long Winter has ended and Spring is officially begun, a survey conducted by this newspaper found that about 70 percent of Niagara Falls streets are marred by potholes, major cracks, bumps, are deteriorating, uneven, hazardous or dangerous to cars and people.
There are 450 miles of roads in the city, and while the Reporter did not examine all roads, it was difficult to find any routes that were a smooth ride into or out of town.
With tourist season fast approaching, this means there is a big job ahead for the city to make an inviting first impression on visitors to the Cataract City who come by car – as opposed to camel or horseback.
Of 15 major thoroughfares reviewed, we rated nine in poor condition. Lockport, Portage, Buffalo, Ferry, Walnut, Niagara and Whirlpool are among the worst.
But scores of less frequented roads nearly impassable.
In Mayor Paul Dyster’s capital plan, he has money set aside for paving this year — about the same amount of money needed to operate the nearly vacant and behemoth train station; and enough to fix about 25 streets.
During his mayoral campaigns, Dyster talked about streets and potholes at length.
“Niagara Falls became synonymous with one word more than any other — ‘potholes,'” Dyster said in 2010. “It’s the complaint I heard most when I was running for mayor, and it’s the issue that generated the most calls to my office during the early days of my administration.”
Not much has changed.
