City Working To Get NYS To Address East Second Street Deterioration

Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund addresses City Council (February 3, 2025)

The City of Jamestown is working to get the State to address the deterioration of East Second Street as conditions have worsened this winter.

Mayor Kim Ecklund said the city has been spoiled with mild winters the past few years and that with this being the first true winter in awhile, streets are taking a beating. She said she’s already spoken in depth about the issue with Assemblyman Andrew Molitor and State Senator George Borrello, “They are taking it up the chain to the DOT (Department of Transportation). I do know someone was down here today and looked at it. I don’t know what we’re going to get but we’re encouraging everybody to reach out the New York State DOT and express your frustrations just as much as we are and carry on those conversations. My office is happy to provide that information.”

Ecklund said the plan by the State Department of Transportation was to start the reconstruction of East Second Street from East Fourth Street to the City line by Falconer this year. East Second Street is a state road.

She said this is a bigger project than the Washington Street project done by the state in recent history and that she anticipates it’ll take longer to complete, “I know it’s going to start this year. I don’t know any of the details. The state controls the bidding. The city didn’t sit on their hands and not send paperwork out, not send bidding out. I’d like to dispel all those rumors that are going around and keep circulating. We really have nothing to do with the internal workings on it. The only thing we do with that road is maintain it, patch it, and plow it.”

Ecklund added that the city is looking into whether they can mill down rough areas of the street, patch that, and be reimbursed by the state. In the meantime, she said Public Works crews are putting down cold patch on potholes until hot patch, which lasts longer, becomes available after April 1.