NIAGARA FALLS
LaSalle Expressway upkeep criticized
NIAGARA FALLS — Overgrown reeds, dandelions and trees that line the LaSalle Expressway on state land behind a chain-link fence have prompted residents and Councilman Robert A. Anderson Jr. to denounce the Department of Transportation for not maintaining the land.
Anderson said weeds on state land between the expressway and houses have become a haven for animals and bugs.
“They’ve never adequately maintained it,” Anderson said. “Give us permission, and we’ll cut it down ourselves.”
But a regional DOT spokeswoman, Susan Surdej, said the plants don’t pose a safety hazard.
Surdej said the DOT mows grass along a six-foot strip on either side of the expressway to provide a “clear zone” for drivers and maintenance workers. But it does not cut down grass or weeds that line a slope that separates the expressway from nearby houses.
“We just don’t have the equipment to do that sort of work on the slope,” Surdej said. “Especially since it’s not posing a safety issue for us.”
Surdej said phragmites, a type of reed, are particularly difficult to address because they grow back quickly after being cut down. Surdej said the state agency will not spray the weeds because of a nearby playground on Stephenson Avenue.
Surdej said there has been no recent change in DOT policy regarding the maintenance of land along the LaSalle Expressway.
The state right of way is separated from nearby homes by a chain-link fence, but neighbors said that does little to keep wildlife from encroaching on their property.
Anderson, in an attempt to draw public attention to the issue, invited reporters and residents to view the state land Tuesday.
Near 73rd Street, weeds at least two feet high were growing between the fence and a metal rail at the top of the slope.
Assemblywoman Francine Del- Monte, who represents Niagara Falls, said she contacted the DOT about the residents’ concerns, but was told by the state agency that the phragmite was not a hazardous weed.
DelMonte said the DOT did repair a hole in the chain fence after she contacted the agency.
“I can understand the neighbors’ complaints about this invasive growth,” DelMonte said. “I’ve made repeated requests with the DOT to somehow manage this particular area. . . . They’re limited in equipment and how far they can go in maintaining certain areas.”
The section of the LaSalle Expressway from the north Grand Island bridges to Williams Road was built in 1970.
Jerry Washington, a retired firefighter who lives at the corner of Stephenson Avenue and 73rd Street, said a pear tree on the back of his property has been overgrown by other trees on the DOT land and has stopped producing as much fruit as in previous years.
“Why do people move into the city?” Washington said. “Because they don’t want to be around the wildlife.”
