Progress on long-delayed Falls street

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) - Niagara Falls fired Man O' Trees, who blamed radioactive contamination for the delay on the Lewiston Road project.

Homeowners are almost giddy about the stepped up efforts of the new contractor rebuilding their street. The project was supposed to take two years and it's now been more than three, which is what prompted the firing of the previous contractor.

The city has now hired a new company, Accadia Site Contracting of Depew.

Patricia Germele said, "Oh, it was ridiculous! Nobody did anything but goof around because nothing was done."

Neighbors say Man O' Trees had not done any work on Lewiston Road since last fall, leaving gravel on one side of the road in many places. City officials responded to neighborhood protests by paving over much of the gravel, using city workers.

Frank Dadario said, "Could not even turn the corner here with a snowplow, and they have damaged the new curbs they put in over there. But again, that's due to the contractor, the way he had the road laid out with the blockages and the cones."

So how is the new contractor doing?

Gina Gigiotti said, "They have blacktopped everything, pretty much, for the winter. So all the stones, the loose stone and dust is gone. It is night and day. They have been great."

The owner of Man O' Trees claimed radioactive sludge in the roadbed hampered the company's progress. In previous interviews, David Pfeiifer said there was more sludge than the city let on and it had a higher degree of radioactivity, pushing up the cost of the project.

Pfeiffer is now suing the city for more than $14 million, but told News 4's George Richert last week, "Quite frankly, it ain't about the money with me, it was about the people. Quite frankly, it is going to come out the radiation is there."

With the new contractor at work, Dadario said, "Every time they took a scoop of dirt out of there, they were right in there with their instruments, measuring for the radioactivity, and there has not been any."

Lewiston Road homeowners contacted News 4 about the project kicking into high gear and we tried to get Pfeiffer's reaction, but were told he is out of town.

Pfeiffer also assured News 4, another of his projects, the Martin Luther King splash pad, will be finished this week after many delays.