Published: May 08, 2008 02:46 am            

CITY OF LOCKPORT: Lincoln construction motions pulled back

Fourth Ward Alderman Patrick Schrader on Wednesday withdrew two legislative motions that would have signed the city onto a Lincoln Avenue and crossroads reconstruction project.

Schrader said he took the motions off the Common Council’s agenda due to opposition from some residents in the affected area.

As the motions inched closer to Council consideration in the past month, Locust Street homeowner George Muscato had warned other residents the city was poised to commit to an undetermined construction project that might increase traffic in their neighborhood.

Schrader disagrees with that take, but earlier this week City Hall was deluged with calls from worried residents. Other city officials said it was questionable whether he would have had enough votes to pass the motions, which would have authorized a traffic study and unspecified construction work financed mostly by the federal government.

Instead, Schrader called a ward/city meeting for 10 a.m. Saturday at City Hall to talk with residents about Lincoln Avenue conditions.

“George has got people so worked up, they think there’s gonna be a four-lane highway. He’s making a mess out of it,” Schrader said. “I have to get this thing straightened out, so we’ll have a meeting to find out what people’s problems are.”

The meeting is open to anyone who wants to talk about it, not just ward residents, Schrader said.

“I’d like everybody who’s in favor of (improvement work) also to show up and show their support,” he said.

Tentatively, a reconstruction project would see widening of Lincoln Avenue to add left-turn lanes at congested intersections including Locust Street and Beattie Avenue; realignment of the curved Lincoln/Locust intersection; and water and sewer improvement work.

        

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