By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — The fourth time was a charm!
The City of Olean learned Mondsay from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer it had been selected for a $25 million federal grant to reconstruct 2.5 miles of West State Street.
The project area will be from North Union Street to St. Bonaventure University and will include a two-way protected bike lane, roundabouts and bump-outs to increase safety and efficiency along one of Cattaraugus County’s busiest streets. It is also designed to boost small businesses.
Mayor Bill Aiello said it was the fourth time the city had applied for the highly competitive RAISE (Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) funding.
The mayor last spoke about the project with Schumer, then the Senate majority leader, when he attended a press conference the senator held outside Olean General Hospital on Veterans Day.
The federal funding for Olean’s Connecting Communities Project is secure and will result in construction beginning in 2026, Aiello
Told the Olean Star on Monday.
“A transportation transformation is coming to Olean,” Schumer said in a prepared statement. “I’m proud to announce the feds have greenlit a whopping $25 million in funding for street safety and integration improvements along Olean’s West State Street!” By better connecting Olean with St. Bonaventure thye project “will further energize growth and economic activity for scores of small businesses in Olean,” said Schumer.
“This project is not just about safety – it is about connecting critical assets – from downtown to St. Bonaventure – in this region by building out the necessary infrastructure to create a hub of economic activity and growth. I fought to secure a historic boost in funding for the RAISE grant program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law because I know how important street safety is to our communities, and I’m thrilled that it’s putting us on the road to a safer future for Olean and Cattaraugus County.”
Pedestrian refuge islands, marked crosswalks, pedestrian crossing signals, ADA improvements, green infrastructure and five traversable mini-roundabouts are also part of the project.
With over 180 businesses and approximately 1,600 jobs on West State Street, the complete-street makeover will transform safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, multi-modal mobility and community connectivity, and economic competitiveness for underrepresented groups, Schumer said.
Some sections of the street were built between 1896 and 1917 and lack modern water and sewer infrastructure. Schumer said this federal funding provides the city with the funds needed to move forward with modernizing and improving West State Street to make it safer and reduce traffic.
Aiello said, “Over the past four years, our Community Development office under the direction of Keri Kerper has worked with Jeff Belt, Molly Vendura Landscape Architect and Clark Patterson Lee in the creation, preparation and annual submittal of applications to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) under the RAISE Program for the Connecting Communities, a Multi-modal Vision for West State Street, Olean, NY Project.”
“I would like to thank USDOT for the $25 million award. I would like to thank Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Nicholas Langworthy and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office for the advocacy that was provided to our project. I would also like to thank the Olean Common Council for supporting the Multi-modal Vision for West State Street. I look forward to working with the town of Allegany and St. Bonaventure University as we connect our communities.”
Belt, the president of Sol Epoxy and a community advocate, said,
“Olean has become a role model for safety-oriented complete street makeovers, helped by the enormous resources of the USDOT. North Union Street was transformed for an 80% reduction of injury accidents. Now West State Street will be reconstructed with improved safety for drivers and pedestrians—many of whom are children, walking to school.”
Vendura, a landscape architect said, “The City and the project team have been working on the design of this transformative project for the past five years, and we are so happy to be able to bring changes to the West State Street corridor that will improve safety, walkability, connectivity and transportation efficiency, as well as bring many environmental benefits to the city’s residents, businesses and the nearly 500 school children that have to cross that very busy and dangerous street each day.”
U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy also congratulated the city Monday for receiving the $25 million grant.
