City of Batavia work crews were on location at Washington Avenue and Bank Street on Monday, creating a continuous sidewalk for patrons and businesses.
The City first had to get permission from each business to create the continuous sidewalk. The new sidewalk should be completed in a few days.
“Each of these sidewalks is owned independently by each business. The sidewalk is their ownership, and as the businesses built, they never made a continuous sidewalk, so this is one of the improvements the City wanted to achieve in order to help the businesses here with access for patients to these buildings,” says Rachael Tabelski, City Manager/City of Batavia.
Tabelski says this is the first step in creating better access to the businesses along Washington Avenue who are affected during the new police station construction which will last about 18 months.
Tabelski, with ankle boot attached, along with Assistant City Manager Erik Fix, spent a good part of their day visiting the businesses on Monday to explain the installation of the three sections of sidewalk added today.
Along with the sidewalks, City workers created an asphalt ramp for patients with disabilities to also have access to the sidewalk which can take them to any of the businesses.
According to Tabelski, there are about 40 parking spots available to customers who need to access the sidewalk on the west side of the lot. There are also 68 parking spots around the perimeter of the construction site. Alva Place was also striped for parallel parking today.
“Every single corner around the site has curb cuts/access points, so if you were to park on Washington you do have a curb cut to get up on to the sidewalk. If you were in a wheelchair, we had a gentleman who was in a wheelchair who walked the site with us, he could park in Pennys easily and get over here.”
Tabelski says the fence that surrounds the site will move over time with the project.
“Some days there will be parking open and some days it will be shut. This first initial site work, this is the layout we need for now for the initial site work and we’ll reevaluate how we move the fence to try to accommodate as much parking as possible.”
Bank Street will also be paved very soon as the water project is now complete, which will open up more parking. A possible customer drop off location is also being considered near the entry to the parking lot on Bank Street near Washington.
“We definitely hear the businesses and we’re doing everything we can to get the project up and running and to open up as much parking as we can, when we can. We’re still evaluating the accommodations the businesses have asked for and look forward to giving an official update to the businesses within 24-48 hours.”
