Albright-BECHS: Downgrading the Scajaquada Expressway

what happened to the lions? had Lions missing on a bridge in Philly and they replaced them and it looks so regal!

those lions look fantastic! should find a way to replace them,

The monstrosity still divides the park in half with extremely limited options for pedestrian crossing between portions of the park. The area around the museums is a sea of ugly viaducts still. Lincoln Parkway is still split. It is supposed to flow through to the north side. the road should have smaller radii and sidewalks on each side. It should be lined with street trees and idealy have parking on each side with bike lanes. This is still a highway. Why is this option even being considered?

And get rid of that stupid round about ped bridge

There are some mild improvements but i really do not understand what this redesign is solving.

it looks over engineered and less parkway than i had thought was the original plan.

And seriously, do they not have a decent landscape architect on the team?

Everything i see looks like an engineer dropped some trees and paths in the plan. What is the project doing that is of benefit to the park? It's not clear at all other than removing a couple of ramps but it will all function the same and feel like left-over space...there is no vision associated with the corridor and these reclaimed areas - how they integrate with the park and add to the experience. You can't just drop a couple trees in. The "overlook" is especially depressing...the dinky path leading to it from the south and look at the line of little trees at the north of the bridge - basically DOT acknowledgment that this is still a highway which they are trying to block the view of. Please hire a good landscape architect and fix the intersection geometries. Make this about people, not a highway. And nothing says highway more than a spiral ramp structure that nobody wants to climb in order to cross the road.

And i knew i'd see the DOT pink concrete special - at all the triangular islands. (at least appears that way)

In summary, GOOD GRIEF! What a wasted opportunity. There is little effort here to reclaim any of Olmsted's vision. Am I being too harsh?

Who is designing this? We can do better.

Leaving Lincoln Parkway bisected is a major disappointment. This plan does very little for connectivity for the two sides of the park between Delaware and Elmwood.

This might actually make pedestrian access even worse than it already is! With the expressway downgraded, there should be no reason to keep using the spiral ped bridge. Add an intersection at either (or both) connection to Lincoln Parkway... or at the very least add another light somewhere that allows a crosswalk.

Converting the current northbound off-ramp to a pedestrian bridge across the water is great, except that it is a dead-end on the south side still leaving no way for people on foot to get from one side of the Scajacuada to the other. For people on foot, this becomes a tangle of bridges to nowhere.

Downgrading the expressway is only half the job, and completely pointless if we don't also UPgrade the park experience.

I can't stop looking at this..

You can't even walk from the Historical Society around Mirror Lake then over to the Albright Knox. WHAT THE FREAK? Who on earth is in charge of this?

NEW YORK STATE DOT = WASTED RESOURCE, WASTED MONEY, WASTED OPPORTUNITY. I'M PISSED. (if you can't tell)

Those lions are mean looking. I mean holy cow. How scary would it be to walk pass them, especially in the dark.

Look at that mane. That big daddy is like "excuse me?" I'd be like "wasn't me"

Maybe a dumb question, and I'm being serious.. Why do you need storm water retention right next to a lake?

An over hyped, over marketed, over engineering, expensive resulting in well...nothing much.

I like the rain gardens
Wish they would bring back the Lions to the bridge
Restore some of Calvert Veaux buildings.

I dont see how the expressway was downgraded...

The storm water facilities are not identified as "detention" as far as I can tell and the terminology would allow the determination of the purpose of the these facilities. Detention and retention are terms used interchangeably and incorrectly. Detention ponds hold water back and slowly allow it to move into another body of water so that's probably what these are, which would make sense to help alleviate high volumes of runoff into the creek and cause things like streambank erosion, turbidty, etc.

Also, they can treat the water by filtering it, again before putting in into the creek.

Again, the Scajaquada Expressway is 3.5 miles, take it down to 30 mph, even 25 mph and rebuild as a parkway. This would restore one of the most scenic corridors in the City of Buffalo and would add about 3.5 minutes to the trip.

Is this set in stone? I was excited about this project, but the DOT has once again dropped the ball and produced an over-engineered design with little to no regard for the community, walkability, aesthetics and anything else normal humans enjoy. Seriously, is the DOT staffed with robots? Who could approve this? Is there any way we can stop this plan and start it over as a local planning project? Anyone who has ever sat on the edge of Hoyt Lake on a beautiful summer day couldn't possibly think this is a good design.

So far, all I'm seeing on this project is a compromise where the expressway is getting 95% of the benefit, the park is getting 5%, and the city/community/residents are getting zilch (plus having to foot the bill for it).

I'd like to see the Olmsted Parks people put out a competing vision, and maybe one from the community (including museums, residents and businesses). Then have the three sides work together instead of just a one-sided vision from a bunch of highway engineers.

I think it'd be very helpful for these posts to include the relevant portion of Olmsted's original design. While we can't replicate that design in every detail, it'd be useful to have as an easy reference source.

Making such a wide bridge as the Lincoln Parkway bridge pedestrian only, when pedestrian traffic along that area is not very high, seems like a silly idea because it won't be used. Instead, it should be used so that the two sections of Lincoln Parkway should be reconnected to tie the neighborhoods together across the park. Maybe have a small roundabout at the intersection with the new 'parkway' and get rid of that hideous pedestrian bridge. And yes, bring back those lions!

I think the weirdest thing though is the new 'pedestrian plaza' around the statue of David. What on earth is the point of that??

Why can't Elmwood be lowered a bit, or Scajaquada raised, to create an intersection right at these two points?? It would eliminate the need for the (still present) Knox on-ramp, as well as eliminate the need for that western 'Elmwood connector' intersection. How about making the Elmwood connector at....Elmwood and Scajaquada!? Maybe I am missing an issue with this?

perfect starting point...and starting with the Lions would be great.....

Colossal waste of money – which pretty much is the definition of any DOT project. Given what I’ve seen proposed for this intersection and the Delaware intersection – I think we should just keep what we have. Just buy a few signs with a lower speed limit – add a few cops to ticket speeders - and they will both “calm the traffic” and probably end up making money off the deal.

As long as the design is based on maintaining a high flow of traffic through the park – this is the crap we are going to get. The DOT needs to start over on the basis of downgrading the 198 to a parkway, 30 mph max, with as many at-grade intersections as possible. Put lights and pedestrian crossings and sidewalks at every intersection on the parkway. I think the analogy to Central Park is excellent. If they can survive without an expressway through a park as large as that in a city with as much traffic as NYC – why the heck do we need one here?

This plan is weak and misses the point, as everyone else has already mentioned.

To me, it only furthers the question of why we even have a link between Elmwood and Main running through this park at all? It isnt that important in its current lay out, and at half speed with extra intersections, why wouldnt you just use the existing city street grid as it was designed and not cut through a park?

Many of the changes in the plan are small, but they will have a big impact on safety, and reclaiming parkland. Though I still think the 198 should be removed between the "elmwood connector" and agasaiz circle.

- Getting rid of the two ramps on Elmwood is great for cyclist/pedestrians.

- Slowing down the traffic and the light at the elmwood connector/198 intersection will make it safer for drivers, too

-Making the Lincoln Parkway bridge/onramp into a pedestrian only bridge will be really great. It will be more scenic, and as is right now the sidewalk on the bridge can get crowded.

-moving the Lincoln ramp half a block will make it safer, but it will keep iroqouis drive not pedestrian friendly

-the entrance from Lincoln Parkway/Nottingham is pointless and sucks for cyclist, they should just scrap it.

-the parking area, and the side walk down the elmwood connector to it seem pointless, scrap those too.

-the new bike path on the southside of the parkway near buff state turns into a sidewalk? this really sucks for cyclist, just make the whole thing a path

Lions, lions, who swiped the lions? They were not destroyed. Where in the world and of what wealthy mansion are they now a part? There are plenty of long-standing wealthy families still in and near that area. Someone amongst them should know where those lions are.

I remember our parents taking us kids to Hoyt Lake for boating and ice skating. I remember that building bustling.

That area still bustles in warm weather. It is a great place for a peace-and-quiet time, especially for older people. It needs more benches though...

I remember some politician demonstrating his right to have a major hissy fit by dumping tons of what, salt?, into that lake. He was not prosecuted for committing that definite atrocity.

Cheektowaga's and W. Seneca's raw sewage also went into that lovely lake. That sewage waste has since been deflected away.

The godawful filthy drainage ditch further along the opposite side of the expressway and bike path is nasty still and is odorific in the hot summer.

All of that area was once occupied only by wealth. The parkland (that is now the expressway) was where the humbler folk took their kiddies on Sunday drives in order to observe the wealthy at play, horses and all. When the wealth started their exodus the expressways were built to guide their way out. Now the decendents of that wealth and the lesser folk are attempting to return...

The lions were taken by Doge Enrico Dandolo & his hordes as they passed thru on their way to the fourth crusade. He shipped them back to Venice where they were installed atop St. Marks. This is why the lion is a symbol of St. Mark.

The lions were temporary (plaster)

there are many photos from different angles though, im sure they couldl be reproduced quite easily