By Mark Scott
Cheektowaga, NY – The condition of Erie County roads and bridges was under debate Thursday in the ongoing race for county executive.
Democratic challenger Mark Poloncarz accused Republican incumbent Chris Collins of running misleading campaign ads that claim county roads have been improved. Poloncarz argues that's not the case.
Appearing at news conference at Harlem Road and George Urban Boulevard in Cheektowaga, Poloncarz said voters won't be fooled.
"Many roads across Erie County are in exceptionally poor condition. They have been identified as being in exceptionally poor condition for sometime, yet the County Executive refuses to fix them," said Polancarz.
But the Collins campaign is defending the county executive's record on road repair. Collins spokesman Stefan Mychajliw said Collins has quadrupled the county's road fund and paid for repairs with cash rather than borrowing.
"It is the height of hypocrisy for long-shot candidate Polancarz to talk about roads when he, in fact, he was the one who wanted the Legislature to deplete, to raid the road fund two years ago to pay for pet projects," said Mychajliw.
Poloncarz also questioned why Collins failed to use federal stimulus money on repairing the county's roads and bridges.
"The fact is the road fund has quadrupled under the leadership of Erie County Executive Chris Collins. Unfortunately for Mark Polancarz facts don't lie. He does, but facts do not lie. Because of sound budgeting practices, the Collins administration has committed itself to paying cash for routine road maintenance and repair, instead of borrowing money as previous administration had to," said Mychajliw.
Specifically, Poloncarz noted that many of the worst roads in Erie County as identified by the most recent Erie County Highway Pavement Assessment, compiled in 2009, only a handful have actually been repaired.
Over the past several weeks, the Poloncarz campaign visited many of these county roads to see their disrepair firsthand.
Poloncarz personally took videos of Goodrich Road and the intersection of Strickler and County Roads in Clarence and Kenmore Avenue in Tonawanda, which can be seen on his campaign YouTube Channel, along with more than a dozen photos on his Flickr site.