Clayton’s $9M reconstruction projects begins Tuesday

CLAYTON, N.Y. (WWNY) - “It’s going to be a big job, but it’ll be a good job once it’s done,” said Mike Flick from the Department of Transportation.

He is talking about the $9.3 million roadwork project in the village of Clayton. It's a two year project, which Mayor Norma Zimmer says will give much needed improvements to downtown.

"We're going to work through this one day at a time," said Zimmer.

Tuesday marks the beginning of new one-way traffic patterns for portions of Riverside Drive, James Street, and Webb Street.

How it will work is if you come into the village from James Street, you will continue straight, make a right at Riverside Drive, and then if you make your way down to Webb Street, you will have to go south.

The roads belong to New York state and the reconstruction was planned for a few years. But the village of Clayton saw its own need to install underground cable and electric wires, for which the village will foot the $5 million bill with state grant and bond money.

"There will be an opportunity once the wires are not next to these buildings they will be able to do the facade changes that they've been denied because they are too close to the 3 face power," said Zimmer.

And to stay informed, the village has created a tool.

“A great app is Savvy Citizen that is in place and people can sign up for that and get the weekly updates on the project,” said Clayton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tricia Bannister.

"In the village, if you've got a question, find somebody in an orange vest and ask," said Flick.

"You've gotta keep your eye on the prize and we're going to have a great project when it's all done. We're going to be looking great down here," said Zimmer.

The project will include a new water main on James Street as well as a new sewer system.

Town officials also say they plan to apply for more grant money to offset village costs. The work is expected to go until spring of 2021.

And one other note: in Clayton there are several trees which are marked with a pink ribbon. They will be removed as part of the project. New trees will be planted to replace them once the construction work is complete.

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