infrastructure

The City of Batavia's Water Department is making repairs to a broken water main in the area of Treadeasy Drive this morning. Water service is interrupted on Industrial Boulevard and Treadeasy Drive, primarily south of the railroad tracks.

Another sub-zero night and another water line break for city crews to repair.

This time on Union Street (see previous post).

The location is between Notre Dame HS and Robert Morris, near Richmond Avenue.

A worker said they're hopeful it will be a quick repair, but the first order of business is finding the leak. Workers dug a hole first where the road was covered only by asphalt. An easy hole to dig, but no luck. The leak is further south, so they're punching holes through concrete (concrete under the asphalt at that location) to find the link. The concrete makes the work that much more difficult.

At the time this picture was taken it was minus five degrees.

Press release:

City employees are responding to a water line break on Union Street. Residents on Union Street between Richmond and West avenues will be without water from approximately 5:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. this evening while crews repair the leak. If you should experience discolored water after the service is restored, please run a faucet until the water runs clear.

Thank you for your patience as we make the necessary repairs.

Press release:

Water valve repairs will take place Wednesday, Feb. 18th, on River Street between South Main Street and Birchwood Drive.

Water customers will be without water from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on South Main Street from River Street to the City line, to include Meadowcrest Drive, and River Street from South Main Street to Birchwood Drive.

All residents will have access to their properties during the construction. We ask that all thru traffic seek an alternate route during this time.

This valve replacement is associated with the waterline work that was completed on South Main Street over the weekend. A water valve became inoperable and requires immediate replacement.

If you should experience discolored water after the water is restored, please run your faucet until it once again becomes clear.

Thank you to all the residents and motorists in the affected area for their patience during the construction over the past few days.

Work crews took a break overnight, but were back at it at first light this morning, working to repair a water main break at South Main and River streets.

There is an issue with identifying and turning off the three valves that feed the juncture at the intersection. Once the water flow is shut down, repairs won't take long.

Previously: In the cold and wind, city crews spending a day working on South Main water line break

Through nearly 24 hours of sub-zero temperatures, crews from the city's Public Works Department have been dealing with a water main break on South Main Street near River Street.

The break itself is repaired, according to City Manager Jason Molino, but there is a valve causing a problem and crews are trying to isolate it so it can be repaired.

Residents in the area should have water flow, though the pressure might be down a bit.

"They're out there," Molino said. "They're working hard, but the weather isn't helping. You've got to give them a lot of credit. There's got to be nothing worse than working outside and getting wet in sub-zero temperatures."

There's no ETA for when repair work will be complete.

UPDATE 8:33 p.m.: Photos added. City workers were out trying to locate the troublesome valve. At the break site were contractors from Sergi Construction. Crew members confirmed they've been at this task since last night. Asked how it was going, one said, "not good." As you can see from the pictures, there's still a lot of work to be done. It's currently minus eight degrees outside.

Press release:

Town of Batavia has a water main break at the corner of Shepard Road and Ellicott Street Road. Until it is repaired residents will not have water or will experience low pressure on the following roads: Ellicott Street Road, Shepard Road, Putnam Road, Batavia- Stafford Townline Road and Batavia-Bethany Townline Road.

There is a water main break on Oak Street near Park Road, according to Matt Worth, superintendent of Water and Wastewater. Residents on Oak Street and Union Street north to the city line are effected. Crews are on site beginning repairs.

This isn't what anybody wants to wake up to on a Sunday morning -- water filling basements, bubbling over onto streets only recently covered with smooth, black asphalt, and the exact location of the water main break a bit of a mystery.

That's the situation at North Street and Trumbull Parkway in the city this morning.

It started with three calls for city fire to pump flooded basements on Trumbull Parkway.

That's when the water main break was discovered, most likely somewhere in the middle of the intersection of Trumbull and North, which was resurfaced this summer.

The leak is likely within the area of the intersection, but exactly where along the line won't be determined until a backhoe cuts into the new pavement, pulls up dirt and uncovers the line.

Water has been shut off, arresting the leak, but that also means four houses on North Street are without water. Other residents in the area may experience water discoloration, said Matt Worth, superintendent of the Bureau of Water & Wastewater.  

The repairs will likely take most of the day, Worth said.

State funds for a system of bicycle trails around the city of Batavia, which the governor's office announced Monday, are actually eamarked for sidewalk replacements and repairs, not biking trails, according to City Manager Jason Molino.

The Healthy Schools Corridor project is slated to get $720,657 for sidewalk improvements on Summit Street, Liberty Street, South Liberty Street and Washington Avenue.

Today's press release:

With a $720,657 grant from the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) funded by the Federal Highway Administration and administered by NYS Dept. of Transportation, the City of Batavia Public Works Department will be able to expand sidewalk replacements along Summit and Liberty streets and Washington Avenue.

The project will include the removal of old sidewalks, installation of new sidewalks, handicap access ramps, high visibility crosswalks and selective tree removal and will be matched with $240,219 of City funds. In total the $960,000 project will include over 12,300 linear feet of improved sidewalks providing safer routes for pedestrians and bicyclists connecting United Memorial Medical Center, Batavia Middle School, St. Joe’s School, the Downtown Corridor and Jackson Elementary School.

“Improving sidewalks has been a priority for City Council and this grant will allow us to do even more over the next few years” said City Council President Brooks Hawley. “With this grant we will be able to make our sidewalks safe for our residents and children.”

The City has approximately 73 miles of sidewalk, and in 2011 it was estimated that more than 20 percent of the sidewalk system needed repair. The City has made a concerted effort since to 2011 and has replaced over 26,500 linear feet, or almost 7 percent of the sidewalk system. This includes more than 130 curb ramps.

“This grant will allow the City to more than quadruple our annual effort,” said Sally Kuzon, director of Public Works.

Sixth Ward Councilwoman Rosemary Christian and longtime advocate for sidewalk improvements added, “I’m ecstatic about getting this grant. Every year I ask for more and more sidewalk improvements and now we are going to do almost $1 million in one year. Our residents deserve it.”

TAP provides funding for non‐motorized transportation alternatives such as bicycle and pedestrian facilities, safe routes to schools projects, trails, and other infrastructure improvements to the transportation system. The City applied for the grant in June 2014 and was one of seven communities in the nine-county Finger Lakes Region to receive an award.

Press release:

On Thursday Aug. 7, the City of Batavia Infrastructure Improvement Project will finish paving on Summit Street, weather permitting. This phase of the project includes paving the roadway; the work zone will be from East Main Street (RTS 5 / 33) to North Street.

Given the scope of this work Summit Street will be closed to all thru traffic on Thursday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Local traffic will be allowed to access their residences throughout the duration of this phase, however thru traffic will be detoured by use of Ross Street and Bank Street. No parking will be permitted on Summit Street during this time.

Weather permitting, it is anticipated that this phase of the project will be completed in one day. The City of Batavia and Keeler Construction Co., Inc., appreciates your patience and cooperation during the construction and asks motorists and pedestrians to abide by this closure and use the posted detour whenever possible.

The point of contact is the Department of Public Works at 345-6325.

Press release:

On Tuesday July 1st, the Trumbull Parkway Infrastructure Project will begin on Trumbull Parkway from East Avenue to Lown Street in the City of Batavia. The project includes installation of a new sanitary sewer main, water services, replacement of damaged sidewalks, and resurfacing the roadway.  The work is expected to be complete by Sept. 19th. Given the scope of the work, sections of Trumbull Parkway will be temporarily closed to thru traffic, excluding the residents who live in the work zone.

Press release:

A water service replacement is scheduled for Thursday June 19 on Summit Street. This work will require Summit to be closed to traffic from Ellsworth Avenue to North Street until the repair is completed. The road will be closed at approximately 8:30 a.m. This work should not impact water service to customers.

Center Street and School Street (between Center and Liberty) are closed today for repaving.

A lot of snow and ice meant a lot of salt use on roadways this winter, and the nearly century-old Bethany Center Bridge over Route 20 didn't fare well.

The damage is said to be cosmetic, but the sidewalk is chewed up enough that the State Department of Transportation posted a sign and put up barricades closing the bridge to pedestrian traffic.

The bridge isn't scheduled for replacement until next year at the earliest and a spokeswoman for the DOT was out of the office this afternoon and said she couldn't provide immediate information on the bridge's current status.

We also spoke with County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens. He also wasn't in his office at the time and couldn't double-check the paperwork, but said he wasn't aware of any change in plans.

Hens said he doesn't believe the bridge is in any danger of falling down.

County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens sent over this picture from a roadway in Montgomery County (near Utica), saying, "it could have been worse" -- a comparison to the dramatic sinkhole incident in Byron last month.

The state's county highway superintendents are concerned about these issues and are lobbying Albany for funding to deal with aging roadways and infrastructure. Hens is currently president of the NYS County Highway Superintendents Association.

Hens also said the culvert on Byron Road has been replaced, backfilling is nearly complete and if there's dry weather tomorrow the road could reopen by the afternoon.

UPDATE 4:06 p.m.: More from Tim Hens:

The culvert that collapsed Saturday under a Byron resident and his two children while out on a bike ride was scheduled to be replaced this summer, said County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens.

"I don't think any of us realized how bad it was in terms of being rotted out," Hens said. "We did a visual inspection, but I wasn't going to crawl into a two-foot pipe, but you can never tell without getting in there. The middle was in a lot worse shape than we thought."

Byron-Batavia Road between Griswold Road and Walkers Corners Road will be closed for two weeks while the culvert is replaced.

The cost of the replacement is approximately $50,000.

"Mother nature and time beat us to the punch," Hens said.

The husband of Korinne Haymon, who contacted The Batavian about the incident, said her husband and their two children were on a Saturday afternoon bike ride when the culvert gave out from under them. 

Mr. Haymon was pulling a bike carrier with their 4-year-old and 7-year-old riding along when he decided to stop out of curiosity and look at a small hole by the side of the road. It was about the size of a groundhog hole.

As soon as he put his foot down, the ground gave way.

The 7-year-old was able to jump over the hole "like Superman," Korinne said.

As soon as he realized the 4-year-old had fallen to the bottom of the hole, Mr. Haymon jumped to the bottom and he was able to lift the child over his head and push him out of the hole. He yelled for the child to move away from the hole. Then he pulled the bike and carrier the rest of the way into the hold and use it like a ladder to climb out.

"He said every time he grabbed earth, it was just crumbling," Korinne said. "They were hysterical, like screaming."

Outside of some cuts and scrapes, nobody was injured.

"He was petrified," Korinne said. "He said he just keeps playing it over in his head but I told him to just focus on everybody is all right."

The children are doing fine, Korinne said.

"They just laugh about how my oldest Supermanned over the hole," she said.

Hens said in his 16 years this is only the second culvert to collapse. The other one was in Darien in 1998 or 1999 and rain helped wash out a sinkhole.

"Most of the time we're ahead of the game in identifying (culverts for replacement)," Hens said. "We wait for a dry time to check on them. It's unusual for them to collapse like that and just from a visual inspection point of view, we have ones that are way worse. It's an odd combination of weather, timing, cold weather -- all of that plays into it."

Contractors have begun road reconstruction work on the south end of Cedar Street, Batavia.

From County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens:

Byron Road between Griswold Road and Walkers Corners Road is closed until further notice due to a drainage culvert that has collapsed. The road is undermined and is a hazard to all traffic. County Highway will be investigating the scene for long-term repair options on Monday.

UPDATE 9 p.m.: The following photos and information were sent to us by Korinne Haymon.

According to Korinne Haymon, her husband was taking their two children out for a bike ride on Byron Road when suddenly, the ground crumbled beneath them. Their 7-year-old jumped out of the carrier, but their 4-year-old fell into the sink hole. Korinne's husband jumped in and got him out, but "he had a hell of a time getting out because the sides were crumbling," Hayman said. "Very scary!" The width of the hole is 15 to 20 feet, Haymon said. "My kids are so traumatized. We're just thankful everyone is OK." Haymon said they called the Highway Department rather than the Sheriff's Office because nobody was hurt.

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer announced today that the 2014-15 State Budget will provide an additional $40 million to help municipalities repair potholes and road surface damage caused by the harsh winter weather.

“While spring has finally arrived, the aftermath of a brutal winter still remains. There are still a significant number of potholes and surface damage all over the roadways. At the same time, the harsh winter has depleted municipalities’ budgets to repair roads,” Ranzenhofer said. “These investments will benefit towns and villages throughout Genesee County so that new infrastructure repair projects can be undertaken.”

The 2014-15 State Budget includes $40 million in Extreme Winter Weather Assistance Capital and $438 million for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS). The new budget maintains a record level of funding for the CHIPS program for a second consecutive year. The 2012-13 State Budget first increased CHIPS funding by $75 million.

Breakdown: CHIPS/Extreme Winter Weather Assistance by Municipality