The entire project itself looks fantastic (although I'll believe it when I see it)... except for the continued presence of the skyway.
I fear that IF this project is completed to the extent depicted in the final rendering, we will be stuck with the skyway as it may be too dangerous to remove once buildings are constructed below it.
Another collection of sexy and exciting pictures. You guys ran all this about a year ago. All looks very nice, so excuse me **again** if I meet all this with a bit of cynicism.
1) In the overhead rendering, I can count at least a dozen new buildings, many 3-4 stories tall, and that doesn't include the museum now under construction. Exactly who is going to erect these buildings and what will they contain? Has even one retailer/developer with private $$$ stepped forward to inquire?
2) The Skyway - I hold the minority view that the Skyway should stay, and outer harbor success will be achieved only when smaller bridges are built across the Buffalo River to link Main St, the marina etc to that open land. So why not LIGHT UP the Skyway!!! Floodlit support piers. strings of neon, or strobe or a combination to turn the entire structure into a night time piece of art.
3) Nowhere in this proposal do I see a new Canal Harbor LRRT station. Are we to assume that jerry-built "temporary" platform, a block away from the doors to HSBC Arena, will remain in place? What an embarassment!
4) And speaking of HSBC Arena, there is vacant space along the ground floor straddling the entire length of Main St. What a superb opportunity for retail right across the street from this project and that space could be developed NOW. Do I hear ESPN Zone??
Well, all these ideas are just me...I'm no pro at this, just an average moron on the street who has seen stuff like this come to fruition elsewhere.... anywhere BUT here.
That's because we are Buffalo... the BANANA mentality which sucks the life out of this area is at the center of our very souls and being.
No it means that the only remplacement for the Skyway would be a tunnel. They same tunnel that has been proposed for the last 50 to 75 years.
And a tunnel would be a great and welcome addition to Buffalo by opening up our entire waterfront.
Wouldn't the station right in front of the Aud, or the one in front of the HSBc be enough to serve this? Do we really need a station every 300 feet along Main St? Or can people walk from one side of the Aud to the other to get to the harbor?
i think it looks great! and why they cynicism... there are workers there this second working on it.
i think i noticed they changed the name from temporary to canal
I can only hope that when they reconstruct Main Street they will consolodiate this section into one final and nicer LRRT station. Those special event stations are temporary and once the new designs are in we can hope to have one, nice Erie Canal Harbor Station that serves this whole area.
I always wondered we they didn't create a station INSIDE the HSBC.. how nice would it be to get off the train and be INSIDE the arena already.
tunnels are expensive and still require a lot of lead way down and out of them which is half the problem of the skyway, by the time you get off it you have passed most of the harbor.
The more I think about it, I agree with the illuminating of the Skyway and believe it would be a great idea. You wouldn't think that this would be a real costly venture either, but one that would make an otherwise drab elevated roadway look great with the Arena and Inner Harbor directly below it or adjacent to it.
Earn your keep and make it happen ECDHC!!!!!!
thesportsroadtrip, you should run with that idea! Make some calls and find out what it would take.
sbrof...
You are right on! Get rid of the Aud station and gimpy looking special events platform, and replace it with a nicely deisgned station that would be convenient for arena patrons AND denizens of this new canal harbor neighborhood.
I always admired the bridges that cross the St. John's River in downtown Jacksonville, as well as the Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin bridges in Philadelphia... the JAX ones look absolutely stunning at night bathed in blue and purple hues. In Philadelphia the BF bridge has a pulsing strobe in multi colors streaking across. At night they help those cities come and feel alive.
Again.. just ideas... concepts.. Maybe I oughta show up at some of these public forums and presentations that go on from time to time and just throw 'em out there.
whenever I visited other cities, their bridges are often works or art / destinations in and of themselves. Venice, Rome, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Praque all have AMAZING bridges that draw people to them, I dont see why we can't build a nice bridge that does more than satisfy the traffic engineers.
Style, beauty, charm, boldness are things that create memories for both visitors and residents. 5,000 as supposed to 3,500 cars per hour capacity doesn't mean anything in the long run of city development.
Short of a cloaking device, the best thing for the Skyway would be to light it up... I like that idea, there's no hiding it!
Give me corporate offices lining Niagara Street and built over the expressway with commanding views of the river
Give me a tunnel from the Peace Bridge to Furhmann Boulevard
Who cares if cars and trucks speeding by at 60mph dont get a view of the waterfront....its the people who are actually patronizing the wharf that matter not commuters.
I agree with many others...as long as we have the Skyway....lets light it up! It will add a dramatic look.
This looks great. Reminds me alittle of the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan. I hope we too can get the mix of national retailers and restaurants with great unique gift shops, galleries, and museums too.
Lots of get ideas. I think Bass Pro has had its day. What about an IKEA. Now that would bring people into Buffalo.
And if the sky way has to stay why not design some kind of cool monorail under it ,but elevated, bringing vistors,shopper etc in and out of the area!
It could all work!
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