March 29, 2017—Olean—The City of Olean received the 2016 New York State Chapter of the American Public Works Association Project of the Year Award-Transportation for the North Union Street Complete Street Transformation Project at the APWA Chapter Awards Banquet. The banquet took place at the Strathallen Hotel in Rochester on March 23, 2017.
In accepting the award on behalf of the City, Mayor William J. Aiello said, "The City of Olean is honored to accept this award. The North Union Street project brought significant changes to our downtown and was very controversial. Five roundabouts took the place of six traffic lights in a little less than a half-mile section of road. In addition a median was added to the former four lane street and the electric, gas and water lines were updated. It was a significant project that took about three years to complete." "Our residents and business owners took a leap of faith and early signs indicate that the transformation of the street has made an impact. New businesses have opened on North Union Street and established businesses have invested in their properties along the street," Mayor Aiello continued.
"I would like to thank our DPW Director Tom Windus and his staff for their help during the project and our Community Development Director Mary George and her staff for writing and administering the grants that allowed the City to undertake this massive project," Mayor Aiello added. "In addition, I would like to thank Mott MacDonald and CATCO for their dedication to the North Union Street Project." The award was established to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects by recognizing the partnership between the managing agency and the participating consultants and contractors. The consultant in the project was Mott MacDonald and the contractor was CATCO.
