News outlets and community members representing districts along Niagara Street gathered today to attend a press conference in which Mayor Brown and Congressman Higgins detailed the infrastructure work that is to begin, leading from South Elmwood/Niagara to Ontario Street. The $16.3 million, four phase plan will start with the stretch from South Elmwood to Virginia Street (complete mid-summer 2015). From there, Phase 2 will continue the project up to Porter Avenue (complete late 2015). Phase 3 deals with the part of Niagara surrounding West Ferry (a sort of gateway for Rich Products and Broderick Park – contraction 2015). Finally Phase 4 will extend the project all the way to Ontario Street (complete late 2017, depending on funding)
“Strong infrastructure is critical to Buffalo’s economy and quality of life,” said Mayor Brown. “Today important roadwork begins on Niagara Street – construction that will help us position Niagara Street as an attractive anchor for city residents, business leaders and visitors to get in and out of downtown Buffalo. I look forward to working with our many other partners in government on this important project. A better Gateway makes Buffalo an even better place to live, work and invest.”.
Throughout the press conference, officials talked about the importance of this plan being a public process, in which the community had valuable input. Representatives from Vision Niagara and the Hispanic American Council were in attendance, among others. The NFTA was also represented by spokesman Doug Hartmayer, who stated that the authority would be adding Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus models to their fleet in 2015, starting with the Niagara Street corridor. There will also be a retiming of the traffic signals, to make the route quicker for travelers.
“Niagara Street serves as a critical gateway for those entering our city from Southern Ontario and Western New York’s northern communities,” said Congressman Brian Higgins. “This project lays out a new and improved welcome mat into the City of Buffalo as well as creating a stronger foundation to support the Niagara Street business district.”
As for the street itself, the community can look forward to a Complete Street with crosswalks, traffic calming measures, bike lanes, appropriate lighting, and even (get this) public art. I spoke to Barbara Rowe of Vision Niagara who clued me into the fact that the 1% dedicated art funding (of the total project) is actually on the table for Niagara Street. That means, for example, $80,000 will go towards public art projects from the Peace Bridge to Tonawanda Street – a tidy sum for that section. Other sections will receive similar art stipends. Plus, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $500,000 for additional green infrastructure that will be dedicated for the stretch of Niagara from the Peace Bridge to Forest Avenue. Those funds are to be matched by Empire State Development.
For years Niagara Street has remained a neglected, unsightly, pothole filled mess. Considering that the street is the gateway to Canada, and to Downtown Buffalo, its current condition is a disgrace. It would be nice to see The City address the Public Bridge Authority (PBA) and its pathetic property holdings on Porter Avenue at the same time (as long as it’s referring to the area around Porter Avenue as a “gateway”). We must remember that Porter Avenue is also a gateway to the waterfront for many people, who must be subjected to the PBA’s former Duty Free property (that is now an eyesore/ storage site).
The news that work on Niagara Street is about to get started is rippling throughout the communities that line the street. The project bodes well for those who have been waiting for an investment of this magnitude. The project will help to spur additional public and private investments leading from Niagara, and heading East towards Richmond. Already there have been a series of projects that have come to fruition on Niagara Street, including Resurgence Brewery, Sugar City, Body of Trade and Commerce, and so forth. While those projects might not have been contingent on this latest infrastructure investment, there is certainly a change in attitude towards a street that has seen so much disinvestment for so long.
While there are no renderings as of yet to depict the exact project and its features, sections of the street could look something like this (ranging from two to four lanes depending on the section):
Lead photo: Mayor Byron Brown, Congressman Brian Higgins, joined by Council President Darius Pridgen, Niagara District Council Member David Rivera