Residents press Grand Island for Staley Road repairs, cite failing culverts, unmaintained shoulders and heavy truck traffic
Loading...
Summary
Multiple residents told the Grand Island Town Board on April 7 that Staley Road requires immediate shoulder and drainage repairs, citing clogged culverts and years of deferred maintenance.
During the public-comment period at the April 7 Town Board meeting, multiple Grand Island residents urged immediate action on Staley Road, describing years of deferred maintenance that residents say has left shoulders raveling, culverts clogged and drainage failing.
Resident Paul (surname not specified in the record) and Debbie Daigler said they had filed complaints and shared written timelines showing repeated promises to repair the road. Jim Degler said the town previously had money for the repairs, that engineering estimates from Town staff put a 3‑year-old shoulder‑repair estimate at about $531,000, and that culverts downstream of his property are clogged and backing water onto private yards and the roadway. “The issue here is drainage in the shoulder, not the micropaving or the paving,” Degler said, according to the meeting record.
Jim Carlson, a longtime Staley Road resident, told the board the road shoulder has not been replenished for decades and that the pavement edge is failing in multiple places. Alice Carlson asked whether local businesses doing sewer or other work would add truck traffic that could further damage the road and urged the town to seek contributions from those contractors and firms.
Highway Superintendent Crawford responded that the project has passed through multiple administrations and that the scope changed while officials considered related drainage and pond work. Crawford said the supervisor’s office has completed funding applications through Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office and Sen. Sean Ryan’s office to pursue additional highway funding; he added the town is performing in‑house crossover and drainage upgrades but could not give a firm timeline because it is still awaiting funding and approvals from other political subdivisions.
Councilman Garcia acknowledged the concerns and said officials were pursuing funding and other avenues of support but offered no specific completion date. Residents said they would continue to press for shoulder work and drainage repairs and that they expected the town to provide clearer scheduling and confirmation of available funds.
The meeting record shows extensive public comment on Staley Road as a recurring community concern; board members and staff noted the complexity of coordination with external funders and projects but did not commit to a construction schedule at the April 7 meeting.
