Oswego opened its first roundabout to traffic Friday as part of a $70 million multi-year plan to improve Wolf’s Crossing Road to help ease traffic congestion, improve safety and accommodate growth in town, village officials said.
The construction including the roundabout resulted in the widening of Wolf’s Crossing to four lanes from just west of Harvey Road to just east of Devoe Drive, and replaced a four-way stop-controlled intersection at Wolfs Crossing and Harvey Road with the roundabout.
“We appreciate the patience of our residents and area drivers during this vital infrastructure project that will make a huge difference for years to come,” Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said in a statement alerting residents of the official opening of the roundabout.
The area around the intersection will be enhanced with landscaping and sidewalks as well as a bicycle path, officials said.
The overall project will turn Wolfs Crossing into a modern, four-lane road in Oswego, village officials said. Oswego’s portion of Wolfs Crossing spans from east of Route 30 to its junction at Routes 34 and 71, approximately 4.5 miles.
The intersection at Wolf’s Crossing and Harvey was planned and constructed as the first part of the Wolf’s Crossing improvement plan because of its proximity to Oswego East High School and the amount of traffic in the area, village officials said.
The new roundabout was designed with safety in mind, Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said in response to questions from The Beacon-News.
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“Roundabouts are proven to result in less accidents and when there are accidents, they are more minor. In addition, this project when fully complete in the spring will include new sidewalks and a bike path for pedestrian and cyclist safety and convenience,” Di Santo said.
“The additional lanes will also allow traffic to flow better on Wolfs Crossing, and as more segments are completed there will be a compound effect on traffic flow becoming more efficient for motorists,” he said of the overall improvement project for the road.
The completion of the first segment of the Wolf’s Crossing Road improvements and the opening of the village’s first roundabout is significant, Di Santo said.
The village administrator said it has taken more than 10 years to reach this point of the project.
“The Wolf’s Crossing and Harvey roads roundabout signifies the importance of intergovernmental cooperation, persistence and patience,” Di Santo said. “The opening of the roundabout also represents the village’s significant investment in infrastructure that aids our continued growth, and the project is funded in part by that growth.”
Di Santo said the road project has been cut into chunks to make it easier to handle.
“The total project is more than $70 million, which is why we divided it into 10 segments, creating smaller, more affordable projects,” he said. “Once we had more manageable segments, we were able to focus on applying for competitive grants and working with our state legislators on member initiative funding.”
He said those partnerships led to funding $7.2 million out of the $10.7 million project to improve the intersection of Wolf’s Crossing and Harvey with money from grants.
He said the lessons learned during the work to improve the Wolf’s Crossing and Harvey Road intersection will make the next nine segments of the overall Wolf’s Crossing project “run more smoothly.”
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.