route 5

A portion of Route 5 is closed due to an ongoing incident in the 6300 block of Main Road, Stafford. More details will be posted as they become available.

Update 12:27 p.m.:  The local law enforcement emergency response team is on scene.

Update 12:46 p.m.: One person is in custody.

Update 1:05 p.m.: Stafford fire department is clearing the scene. The road is to remain closed for the time being. There is no estimated time for when it will open.

Update 1:13 p.m.: Route 5 is now open.

Update 1:20 p.m.: This was a mental health incident, Genesee County Sheriff William Sheron said, but possible charges are pending. The subject has been transported to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. The sheriff expects to put out a press release in a few hours, he said.

UPDATE 6 p.m. (By Howard Owens): This afternoon, 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers received a call of a detached garage at a residence on Main Road, Stafford, was on fire.  Stafford Fire responded and encountered a reportedly uncooperative male. Deputies responded and attempted to make contact with the male, who was by then barricaded in the garage. The male claimed the garage was equipped with explosives and would detonate if approached. Additional deputies, along with the State Police, and DEC responded.  Route 5 was closed and residents in the area were evacuated. Batavia PD's Emergency Response Team, including members of the Sheriff's Office, responded, along with Batavia PD patrol officers. Negotiation specialists from both Batavia PD and the Sheriff's Office responded.  The subject was taken into custody and criminal charges are pending. There was no threat to the general public. More information will be released later.

Photos by Howard Owens

Press release:

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) announced today that work on a project to resurface Route 5 from the west Le Roy Village line to the Livingston County line in the village and Town of Le Roy, Genesee County, is slated to begin on Monday, July 21, weather permitting.

The schedule calls for removal of pavement markings and site preparation along the five-mile corridor, the week of July 21. The paving work, which will consist of a micro-surfacing treatment, followed by replacement of permanent pavement markings, will begin the week of July 28. No changes will be made to the pavements markings. It is anticipated the project will take about three weeks.

In the area east of the village, traffic will be reduced to a single alternating travel pattern controlled by flaggers. In the village area, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Street parking in the business district will be prohibited during the paving operations.

Motorists should expect delays and allow plenty of extra travel time to safely travel through the highway work zone.

Access to all residential and commercial driveways will be maintained throughout the duration of the project.

The general contractor for this project is Suit Kote of Cortland, Cortland County.

Worked crews were out on Route 5 earlier today restriping Route 5 on the east side of Batavia to create center turn lanes and left-hand turn lanes. This is an NYS DOT project aimed at creating safer traffic patterns near the entrance of the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.

Traffic tickets were issued to both drivers involved in a two-car, minor-injury accident on Route 5 in Le Roy on Saturday at 3:16 p.m.

One driver is accused of failing to yield right-of-way while the other driver was cited for not properly restraining his children in child-safety seats.

The children, ages 2 and 5, were uninjured.

The accident blocked Route 5 in both directions for nearly a half-hour.

Timothy J. Beaumont, 44, of 103 W. Main St., Le Roy, reportedly drove his 2008 Toyota pick-up from a driveway onto Route 5 just west of the intersection with East Bethany-Le Roy Road.

Jason D. Burk, 36, of 9 North St., Apt. 1, Le Roy, was driving a 1995 Mitsubishi two-door sedan westbound on Route 5 when the car struck Beaumont's pick-up.

Burk reportedly suffered a minor burn on his elbow and was treated at the scene. Also treated at the scene for a minor burn on her face was Laurie J. Brady, 40.

Beaumont had no passengers.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Bradley D. Mazur.

Driving to and from Batavia today I thought of what a habit it has become for me to avoid the Thruway if at all possible.

And I thought of Bill Kauffman again and his essay "Back to Batavia."

The curmudgeons carped and the mossbacks muttered, and the thruway was built. Its first casualty was Route 5, Batavia's Main Street, for years a bustling thoroughfare. Travelers ate at diners along Route 5, and slept in hotels, and shopped at stores—until progress came, and the farms were paved, and Route 5 died. Across Upstate, countless locally owned and owner-operated businesses were bankrupted. Drivers stuck to the thruway and ate at the Howard Johnson's monopoly.

In nearly two years of Western New York residence, I've found myself avoiding the Thruway more often than not.

I dislike the Thruway because:

• The smaller freeways and two-lane roads are often much more interesting, if not prettier drives and they do take you past more locally owned businesses, which generally make for more interesting stops than chains or anything you find at "service exits."  Similar thoughts and advice can be found on RocWiki.
• The toll isn't expensive, but why pay a toll if you don't have to? Besides, regular Thruway usage can add up.
• The alternative routes almost never take more time to drive.
• State Troopers.  I have nothing against law enforcement. In fact, I quite admire the men and women who wear the badge. I am, after all, an ex-cop myself.  But the State Troopers on the Thruway seem to have one job: write speeding tickets.  The Thruway is nothing but a very long speed trap.  Now, I don't speed much myself (never intentionally), but on a freeway as wide, clear, straight and devoid of traffic as I-90, Troopers running radar seem to server but one purpose: Raising money for Albany.  It's an alternative form of taxation, and it doesn't provide much representation. It's too Big Brotherish for me, so I'd rather not participate in the whole Thruway experience.

So you're much more likely to find me tooling down Route 5 than 90.

Has there ever been a "Boycott the Thruway" effort? The the Thruway seems easily avoidable, even for long trips.  So why use it?

What do you think of the Thruway?  Is it a modern transportation convenience, a necessary evil, or something that can and should be avoided as much as possible?

Previously:   Contemplating Bill Kauffman's Batavia