Lake Ontario water level regulators said this week that the threat is low for a repeat of flooding which plagued shoreline communities in 2017 and 2019. Despite the encouraging news, work commenced Friday to shore up a problem area in the town of Greece.

Crews from the town unloaded thousands of sandbags on Edgemere Drive near Dewey Avenue, as a team from the Army National Guard built a 170 foot-long wall of sandbags. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified the area as one in need of reinforcement, following flooding which shut down the road two of the past three years.

“When we got the wave action and it was really ripping, it was almost a mini river that was just running right through this part of the property here,” said Kirk Morris, Greece public works commissioner.

The new wall is essentially a series of smaller sandbags stacked inside a larger one. Officials say it’s a more durable design than traditionally stacked sandbag walls. Despite lower-than-expected water levels, town officials say high winds could still kick up enough waves to flood low lying parts of the shoreline.