Poll of the Week: Which Bridge?

would the grain elevator on the outer harbor need to be demolished in order to implement the Main St. bridge?

Consider this a choice for the FIRST connection. Just as we have to reconnect to the river and lake as much as possible, we have to weave this fabric into the city wherever we can. Why not start with ferry service at the green site next week?

All three please!

Open up the rest of main street and then build the main street bridge (red) The simpler the better. This city can be confusing enough, particularly for out of towners.

How many non city people and out of towners even know how to get to erie st, ganson st or michigan st????

Keep it simple.

look at how much land and waterfront all the bridges would take up. less roads, more waterfront.

That aerial photo is beautiful. Who knew there was so much greenspace out on Fuhrmann??

I don't care which one gets built as long as one of them does, and sooner rather than later! The Ganson one is way out of the way though... kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me.

if this bridge is for traffic only, IE not a walking bridge, then it most definitely should not cut between the bike paths and green space stretching from erie basin marina to the east end of HSBC. if they were to occur where either the green or red is, you are introducing traffic in an area that is far better suited for walking, biking, etc. The red option may also make it difficult to remove the skyway at a future time. The most ideal location for a traffic only bridge should go at ideally the blue location as it is a more direct route to the outer harbor while diverting traffic from what (with canalside) should be a more heavily used foot traffic area.

that all said, if this bridge will allow for a moderate level of foot traffic and allow bikers, rollerbladers, etc access to the outer harbor, then the Green location is the most ideal fit, given that it is 10-15 ft off the water to allow for boat access into and out of the canal, all be it at a reduced speed.

I think that the Erie Street access ramp to the Niagara Expressway should be closed. Drivers can easily use Virginia Street.

I prefer the redirected or corrected Erie Street Bridge since it would connect right to Furhman Boulevard seemlessly.

The flaws with Main is that it abuts into Furhman Boulevard which would create a choke point, it would be unlikely to connect to Ganson on the Inner Harbor (Kelly Island) and it would put to much traffic on Main Street which has to share traffic with Light Rail creating alot of problems detracting from the benefits.

The flaws with Michigan and Pearl are similar to Main but there isnt enough traffic on Main or Pearl to support the bridge.

As far as the return bridge, my suggestion is that no decision be considered at the present time. Why? The Tifft Street Bypass and a Lift Bridge at Erie Street is going to affect traffic patterns and compete with the use of the skyway.

We could see the justification for the skyway access ramps that consume an entire city block bounded by Exchange, Pearl, Seneca and Franklin nullified, the elevated section of the Southtowns Connector and the entire existence of the competing Furhmann Boulevard/Route5 Expressway nullified to the point where a combination of the Tifft Street Bypass and the Erie Street/Furhmann Boulevard upgraded to a Parkway satisfies current needs.

Until the chances in traffic patterns are simulated we really dont know where the best place to locate the return lift bridges over the Buffalo River and City Ship Canal should be!

The only Grain Elevator that is truly historic and we should solicit ideas for re-use is the Great Northern next to the ADM Building...but the entire exterior structure is built around the interior steel silos...so re-use is highly unlikely. HOWEVER A BETTER IDEA WOULD BE TO DEMOLISH THE GREAT NORTHERN BUT BUILD A MODERN REPLACEMENT OF THE SAME SHAPE AND SIZE WITH EXTERIOR COPPER COLORED GLASS TO SIMULATE THE FORMER STRUCTURE AS PART OF ANY REDEVELOPMENT OF THE ADM WHICH IS BEGGING FOR A LARKIN WAREHOUSE STYLE MAKEOVER! BUFFALO COULD KEEP ITS HISTORIC ENTRANCE TO THE ERIE CANAL WAREHOUSE DISTRICT! IT WOULD HAVE THE BEST VIEWS! BEST LOCATION AND THE BEST SPACE ON THE WATERFRONT!

Those are my thoughtful suggestions for my beloved Buffalo!

build the cheapest one