Design & Construction Services

The DiDonato Team provided conceptual design, final design and construction phase services for the rehabilitation of E. Spring and Rock Streets in the Village of Williamsville. The Village recently rehabilitated the old Water Mill to create a unique destination that includes leisure, shopping, and hospitality services. In conjunction with this project, the Village wanted to improve E. Spring and Rock Streets to create a welcoming and pedestrian-friendly entrance and surrounding area that complements the Water Mill Development. The E. Spring Street rehabilitation is an important part of the revitalization of the Water Mill development. As such, our Team utilized a proactive approach and open public involvement process to ensure a successful project.

The Conceptual Design phase included performing documentation review, surveys, record searches, and utility investigations. DiDonato assisted the Village with Public and Stakeholder meetings. Three (3) conceptual plans for reconstruction of the roadway, with cost estimates, were developed and presented to the Village, Stakeholders and the Public.

The overall objective of the project was to develop a streetscape that improves accessibility, parking, stormwater quality, greenspace and the overall visual environment. A key element of the streetscape improvement project was to implement green infrastructure that reduces the stormwater impacts generated along the project corridor which ultimately discharge into Ellicott Creek. The implementation of measures such as bioretention planters, permeable pavement, trees and plantings throughout the project corridor helps reduce the overall runoff, filter pollutants and sediment from stormwater discharges and improve the visual environment in the surrounding area. The Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper had established parameters and tested water quality at the stormwater outfalls prior to the start of construction and established a post-construction monitoring plan. The post- construction plan is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the installed measures and provide data that can be used for establishing measures for other projects within the Village and corresponding watershed.

The existing project corridor was lacking in vegetated surfaces and water quality measures, leaving ample opportunity to implement measures that reduce the amount and improve the quality of surface stormwater runoff as well as enhance the visual environment. Most of the existing surfaces were covered with asphalt pavement and concrete sidewalks. Vegetated areas along the edge of the park were eroding and were not landscaped. The asphalt roadways were in poor condition due to age and drainage deficiencies. Replacement of the pavement was required to facilitate the installation of green infrastructure and water quality improvements. The project included the narrowing of the roadway to create space for tree planting, vegetated strips and bioretention planters. These measures were installed on both sides of the roadway segments. Permeable pavement was installed within roadway parking areas and throughout the Mill plaza.

The project is bordered by Glen Park to the north which contains ponds and swales that serve as the outfall to the existing storm sewers on East Spring Street. The selected measures reduce the runoff and sediment being conveyed to these outfalls and ultimately to Ellicott Creek, to which the park runoff is tributary. Erosion that has been taking place due to runoff being conveyed directly over the rock ledge bordering the park along East Spring Street and the Mill is now mitigated through the installation of curbing and bioretention planters that intercept the runoff and the construction of a vegetated “green wall.”

Proposed improvements were funded through three (3) separate grants including a grant through the Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP) administered by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation
(EFC); a Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) program grant administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC); and a grant from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY).

Project Profile

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