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Hamburg Roundabout: Putting village in circles?

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Contributed by: Dave Jurenovich on 10/24/2007

The construction of the Village of Hamburg has brought upon lots of confusion and lots of opinions. The staff at the Hamburg Village Hall hopes to clear everything up.

According to the Village Administrator of Hamburg Robert Pauley, the construction will be done earlier than it was originally planned. "The project is moving along quickly, and can be done sometime in 2008." Early predictions were as late as 2010. There has been a lot of feedback, and initial confusions between citizens of Hamburg and people. The Special Projects Coordinator Paul Becker takes
questions from the public, and coordinates with all the businesses and citizens when constructions will be starting and ending. That's why brochures and letters were produced to notify everybody in the Village of Hamburg. Since the project began in 2006,one resultis all businesses losing its normal customers. There are entrances and plenty of parking behind these buildings. Since construction started, there were losses between 15 and 40% of the normal customers in local establishments.

While public opinion may have construed the project as being rushed,Pauley said that residents may be surprised it has been in the works for over 20 years. There were many meetings at the University of Buffalo between the Village of Hamburg and handfuls of bank representatives. The state of New York has also pitched in a lot of money to Hamburg for the project, specifically $500,000. The money was received from a state program called the Main Street Program. The roundabout project costs $28
million in total. While many may think of roundabouts as a means for really large cities, they fit towns such as Hamburg also. It's a good response to the increasing traffic from kids and teachers from local
schools, to rush hour traffic, and the occasional Buffalo Bills home games. This increasing problem will be solved, and should filter out the large lines of motor vehicles at lights between Clark and Buffalo
Street.

Most important, it should accomplish the idea of keeping the traffic moving without waiting for a light. Becker said that village normals will need the time to adjust, while Pauley can see it from the residents' point of view, saying "change is not always good". There are meetings each week on mondays at the Hamburg Village Hall at 9AM (citizens are also welcomed to attend).

The biggest positive is obviously the traffic flow. There is actually much more that will be improved than the traffic. Pauley everything from sewers, pavement and sidewalks will be redone . That will give a
fresh look to the Village of Hamburg. According to Mr. Becker, workers will stop for the winter around the first week of December if the weather holds up. It cuts the construction time and helps the community return to normalcy. Pauley said the DOT(Department of Transportation) had this idea as 1 of the 10 best projects. Becker said even buildings are being built on Main Street. which will also help everyone promote their services and products. The people that commute to the Village for work have equal say in the traffic. Let's see how this ties together the village, once it's all said and done.

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