Plans to convert Transit Street into a three-lane roadway between Ruhlmann Road and Main Street are slowly progressing.
City officials met with representatives from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) this week to hear about recommendations for road redesign work that could improve the safety of intersections while accommodating high traffic flow.
Mayor John Lombardi III said the DOT plans to implement a road diet, which according to the Federal Highway Administration, converts an existing four-lane undivided roadway into a three-lane roadway consisting of two through lanes and a center two-way left-turn lane.
“It will be similar to West Avenue, where you’ve got one lane on both sides with a turning lane in the middle,” Lombardi said. “They’ve said they addressed all the traffic patterns, fatal accidents, and turning.”
Transit Street at High Street has been the site of three fatalities, according to city police Chief Steven Abbott.
Lombardi said the DOT provided a general timeline for the project, which will begin with a public forum this summer. He said construction is expected to begin in June 2026 and be completed in June 2027.
DOT and Clayton Dimmick, city director of highways, parks, and water distribution, did not respond to requests for comment.
“It’s about time that they’re doing the work,” said Greg Bromley, owner of Snowflake Ski Shop on Transit Street. “The road’s horrible. When we get really bad rain storms it floods.”
“People fly along in front of my store, even though the intersection is right there,” Bromley said of traffic. “it’s a drag strip all the time.”
Bromley said he appreciates city police monitoring speeding and safety on Transit Street.
“There’s kids walking because there’s a park right there,” he said. “There’s a lot of foot traffic.”
“We do write a lot of tickets for speed on Transit,” said Abbott. “Most people still think it’s 45 mph.” The speed limit is currently 30 mph, he said.
Abbott said the DOT’s current design included bicycle lanes on each side of Transit Street.
“My concern is for the safety of people here, and the traffic flow,” he said. ”I’m not a fan of the road diet. It will be a single lane into Lockport and a single lane out of Lockport — that’s what it creates. You could go up to Lockport plaza and watch two lanes moving constantly.”
Abbott said DOT representatives told city officials that the planned reduction in lanes would “slightly elevate” congestion on Transit at peak traffic times.
Abbott said the slope of the road heading south from downtown creates visibility issues.
“We’ve had a number of accidents on High and Transit because of people making left turns,” he said. “We have NFTA buses down there, we have school buses down there. You’re going to throw a bike lane on there on both sides? I said, ‘Why don’t you try the arrow first, where if you’re going north on Transit, you have an arrow left?’”
“Think about coming south from Summit and Transit,” he said. “Now you’ve got one lane coming. You’ve got that bike lane, and maybe a truck’s coming. They don’t see the bike because they’re watching the truck.”
Pedestrians are another factor to consider, Abbott said, with many people crossing near Willow and Transit for the convenience stores.
“What do you do with the buttons, when somebody wants to walk across?” he said. “If they push those buttons, it’s going to screw up the timing for these lights. How does putting a turning lane in without any directional arrows make sense?”