Penfield, N.Y. --- In February this Your Stories Report understandably left some in Penfield disappointed. They’d complained for months and years about the pothole problem on Route 441 and the New York State Department of Transportation, along with other local leaders, indicated that no scheduled improvements were on the horizon.
But, perhaps because of the ongoing complaints, the DOT managed to find some funds to improve a three-mile stretch of Route 441 from Dublin Road to the Wayne County line. The work began in the beginning of August and is part of a NY Works project that also involves surface repairs on Route 104 and in Cayuga County.
"It was a nightmare,” said David Till of how Route 441 was before the paving project. “It was a nightmare, they have a name for it but I don't want to tell you what it is.”
Now that repairs are already underway and improvements are obvious, the tone of folks like Till who use this road on a regular basis has changed.
“It's nice to see them spend some money on the main roads and get them taken care of,” Till said approvingly.
More extensive plans to upgrade Route 441 remain on hold for the time being. Those plans included additional lanes of traffic and new traffic patterns at certain intersections to better accommodate increased traffic on that road. The plans were shelved a couple years ago because of fiscal issues at the state level.
Penfield Town Supervisor Tony LaFountain tells 13WHAM News he embraces the current paving project but still views it as a temporary fix on a road that surely needs more attention in future years.
