Drivers deal with traffic nightmare

AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) - Relief will soon be on the way for drivers trying to deal with a traffic nightmare in Amherst.

It's a one stop shop for all of your needs. Best Buy, Target, Lowe's, and now Christmas Tree Shops, Eastern Mountain Sports, Old Navy, and more stores are popping up. But convenience comes with a catch.

Amherst shopper Nancy Schaeffer said, "It's absolutely ludicrous if anyone thinks they can come here shopping."

Traffic in Boulevard Consumer Square in Amherst is a nightmare.

Michele Desantis said, "They have so many of these little island things that you have to maneuver around and people use this as a thoroughfare rather than just plaza traffic."

Schaeffer said, "Maybe they need to have better stop signs."

Judy Richardson said, "It's too much in one place."

It's like a game trying to find a parking spot while avoiding other cars and pedestrians. But traffic around the plaza, on Niagara Falls Boulevard, is even worse.

Amherst shopper Brad Corbett said, "I just try to be patient as best as I possibly can. I mean it does get a little nuts."

Judy Richardson said, "It's hard to get home sometimes if you get stuck in at rush hour."

Guy Marlette said, "Personally I avoid this section of Niagara Falls Boulevard on the weekends."

Guy Marlette is an Amherst Town Councilman who sits on the Traffic Safety Board. He admits they created a monster.

News 4's Melissa Holmes asked, "The board approved how all of this looks?"

Guy Marlette said, "The board from 10 or 12 years ago approved how all of this looks. Personally they could've done a much better job."

"Never really any thought was given to how we're going to move people around inside there."

Unfortunately there aren't any solutions to the traffic problems inside the plaza itself. But there are plans in the works to alleviate the traffic problems on the roads surrounding the plaza.

A massive construction project will get underway next spring to make it easier to enter the 290 from Niagara Falls Boulevard and Ridge Lea Road, hopefully easing all the congestion, and that's not all.

Marlette said, "The back roads, Romney Road, Meyer Road, they're all designed for reconstruction of those intersections to allow traffic to move through there at a little faster pace."

There is one bright side to the painful plaza...

Marlette said, "Appreciate the fact that at least in this small area the economy is doing a little better."