A two-acre parcel of land that's distinguishing feature is an abandoned road that used to lead to a bridge will be sold at auction at the end of this month.
The road used to lead to a bridge that connected South Jackson Street to Creek Road but that bridge was removed in the 1990s and never replaced.
Now, the Department of Transporation, which has owned the parcel since the bridge was built in the 1950s, has decided to sell it as surplus property.
Matt Worth, director of public works said the bridge, which was only 30 years old at the time it was removed, was in poor shape when it was taken out of service.
It was built when the old railway lines that used to pass through Downtown Batavia were moved further south. The bridge was built over the railroad tracks in what may have been a joint project involving the City, the DOT, and the railroad company that owned the railway at the time.
As often happens in these sorts of projects, the various agencies wind up owning a piece of the project but only until the project is completed. For some reason, and Worth said he doesn't know why (this was well before his time with the City), the DOT never turned the street over to the City of Batavia for maintenance.
The two-acre parcel is surrounded by City of Batavia property. It's zoned R-2, which means a two-family residence can be built on the land.
Here's a DOT press release about the auction:
The New York State Department of Transportation today announced it will host a public auction for two parcels of vacant land. The auction will be held on Thursday, May 30, 2019 at the State Office Building located at 1530 Jefferson Road in Henrietta. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the auction will begin at 10:30 a.m.
To register, bidders must present a certified or bank check for the deposit required on the property for which they intend to bid. The property, deposit and starting bid price are as follows:
Property 891 is 0.53± acres of vacant land located on the north side of Beahan Road near its intersection with Chili Avenue, in the Town of Gates, Monroe County. It is irregular in shape and improved with a snow plow turn-around. Access to the parcel is gained via Brooks Avenue Extension. Bidding will commence at $20,000. The deposit required to bid on this property will be $2,000.
Property 894 is 2± acres of vacant land located along the southern side of South Jackson Street, in the City of Batavia, Genesee County. The parcel is irregular in shape, contains broken pavement and overgrown brush. The parcel does not have physical access to South Jackson Street. Bidding will commence at $7,000. The deposit required to bid on this property will be $700.
Prospective bidders can find more information by visiting our website at http://www.dot.ny.gov/r4surplus or by contacting Jeremy Button at (585) 272-3326.
Below: DOT supplied image of the parcel
Perhaps Jackson School can
Perhaps Jackson School can figure out how to convert it to a runaway truck ramp.
"It's for the children".
I dunno.