I didn’t make the Peace Bridge public hearing the other morning, though I did hear that the place was packed. I did make the hearing that night, and I can tell you that some very passionate people were both in the audience and at the mic. The Public Bridge Authority's (PBA) presentation led off the public hearing, but it was the vocal crowd towards the end whose words hung in the air as the multiple hour session came to a close.
Bruce Jackson stood up to speak on the neighborhood's behalf, and speakers from the New Millennium Group recounted meetings in distant years-past, that sang of the promise of future joint progress goals with the community… only to come up empty at this late stage in the game. Neighbors and block club leaders spoke of their frustrations with the PBA, and the underhandedness that was used when they dealt with the community. Some talked of the last two years without hearing a word from the PBA, only to find out (in less than savory ways) that their community was being carved up behind their backs to be served up in the form of parking lots, an information building, roadways and a Duty Free. And why? Because Buffalo needs more truck traffic to roll through one of its historic neighborhoods? For the first time in a long time our city has been making great headway on so many projects... why should we return to the days of old when PUBLIC decisions were forced down our throats? I'll add Route 5 in that category too.
The idea of using the International Railroad Bridge for truck traffic was dismissed with no explanation. Time and time again this bridge has been pointed out as a possible solution to the problems that we are currently facing. Documents pulled from the Peace Bridge website were read by one passionate woman, detailing the importance of the historic neighborhood. One resident even brought a blackened sponge that she had wiped on a table on her deck to show the filthy dirt that had accumulated in the same yard that her son plays in. There was even a letter read from Assemblyman Sam Hoyt (who could not make it) that spelled out his frustration with the latest development process and the results, or lack thereof, that had come from it. The people that were present at this public hearing came armed with history, studies, and the knowledge that they had not been able to participate in an issue that affects them directly. “It’s the PUBLIC Bridge Authority,”… that was the sentence that many people preached. So where was the public in the process? And if there are more delays in building this bridge, it should be duly noted that it is the PBA that is to blame. There are no obstructionists here. There are learned people who have found out that they have been railroaded. It’s that simple.
If allowed to proceed with the current plan, one of the city’s last remaining waterfront neighborhoods will be destroyed. And in twenty years, when another generation looks back, they’ll say, “You’d think that they would have learned after so many deplorable urban planning transportation mistakes.” Well, for those people that never witness the steamroller effect in action, this is it. Make no mistake - the current plan is not progress. It’s a bad call from an authority with one interest in mind, and that’s making money from a plan that would rip apart the Columbus Parkway neighborhood.
The podcast is a sampling of comments from the Columbus Parkway neighborhood.