Buffalo Rising Online

Cars back on Main Street is a good thing....I hope it doesn't take years and years! I noticed that in many southern states contruction projects operate 24/7 including weekends speeding their completion. Such speedy work goals need to be adopted in NYS.

I think this is a great plan. I'm so glad they're not getting rid of all the large sidewalks, but are instead allowing cars to go right along the tracks in many spots like in a lot of other cities. I hope this gets implemented really quickly!

I totally agree with BCB....if construction takes YEARS like it did in the Main St/ University area, this will be the deathblow to Main St.

I had read somewhere that the work would "begin" on the Theater Block. Doesn't it seem like doing it piecemeal will make it take longer?

If the dirt, noise and geneal inconvenience of this project is prolonged, it will neutralize all of the positive advances that are currently making Downtown attractive to residents.

There needs to be responsibility as to job completion and keeping the project moving & on schedule. 24/7 construction kinda seems like a great idea, BCB!

Get it done or don't even go there!

Does anyone have a link to the video renderings?

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You want it done quickly, do what LA did after the Northridge quake destroyed some of the freeways.

get all the bids... choose the one you want and get them to sign a completion date tell them, for every day you come in early, you get $____ for every day you come in late you lose $______

They rebuilt the entire LA freeway system in a matter of months.

However, whether or not this cures Main St. is something else all together. There are a growing number of scucessful pedestrian mall shopping districts, in bothe major cities and college towns.

No one complains about not being able to drive on the Santa Monica Promenade, or the 16th Street Mall, or the countless ped-malls in college towns across the country.

The point becomes that unless there is something drawing people to the street, cars will do nothing to help it.

Businesses will attract people, cars will not attract businesses.

I actually like the ped-mall, but wiser people who have been here longer tell me that it killed Main St.

So who knows...

I know I have an article coming up for how to attract Main St. retail

If this is what people think is going to save main street, we will see. I agree with transplant and like the pedestrian mall and think there were other reasons main street withered.

But then again this project will hopefully fix more mistakes than it will make so I will say go for it. Bike lanes and smaller train stops were really needed. Plus the condition of the track bed is horrible so hopefully it will spruce things up a bit to encourage investment.

why would they eliminate the theatre station? i would think that's the ONE place that people will always get off at considering well, the theatres there.

bucky- although i think that there should be fewer stations downtown, i agree with you in that the Theatre station is not the one to eliminate. Actually, the Fountain Plaza station isn't really on Chippewa so if they just combined Fountain Plaza and Theater into a Chippewa station, with the inbound station north of Chippewa and outbound station south of Chippewa, then there would be one station that serves both the Theater district and Fountain Plaza, as well as Chippewa itself.

The important thing, however, is that we get moving on this project, its great that the people with power finally realized the importance of this project to Main St. and downtown in general.

I think an East/West pedestrian mall would have worked much better for Buffalo since all major traffic in-city moves North/South. The Main St. project seems to have failed because it destroyed a major pathway for a number of years slowly starving businesses during an anti-urban business time, and then reopened to a lot of empty storefronts and very little N/S foot traffic. When I think of how I move around the city this is still true... I drive N/S but I walk E/W.

I definitely think that eliminating the Theater District Station is a mistake but its a mistake that can be rectified and added at a later date. Its one of those things that as the Theater district continues to grow there will be calls for that station to return.

My biggest concern is how they will clear traffic from the road when the light rail cars are running....I saw the gates but there are alot of dizzy dumb drivers that will park with their lights flashing for drop-offs and picks etc.

I would have prefered that they kept the cars and light rail on their own lanes and used minimized parking on Main Street. It would have been better to use those parking spaces for drop-off and pickup zones and short term parking (15 minutes). Long term parking doesnt belong on Main at all.

You dont want the entire light rail line held up because of a UPS or Fedex delivery has backed up traffic. Did they even think of this?

The Theater and Fountain Plaza stations are like half block apart. I don't think walking an extra few hundred feet is going to kill anyone.

But L, you do have a really good point about idiot drivers who might stop and hold up traffic. I agree that short-term/drop off parking is definitely the better way to go. And perhaps draconian $1000 fine for blocking the train might be an effective deterrent.

this is one of those issues in which all those negative sentiments about our city usually spawn. same as the university location and the Ralph location. When this is done though, it will not have an immediate impact on business here....cause basically no street level businesses remain.

Recently there was a post on the Walden Craperia and the faux-town facade, well this main street project could (and should) entice developers to look at the Main Place in a different light. Why not here? why not a cheesy factory and an REI, and a barnes and noble? I'm serious! is it not too much to ask to have these projects attach themselves to other serious investment? cause without such ventures, the only thing we will have on mainstreet no matter what the construction period is, are cars! and frankly, that is just not what is needed here.

Some of the screenshots and video will be on the CCR website (www.ccr.buffalo.edu) in the coming week.

I, too, am very concerned about the closing of Theater Station. Many of us who live here use the train a great deal. If you look at the the number of residential units that have already been developed or are in the process of being developed, this is the closest station and most used by many new downtown residents. You may say that a few hundred extra feet aren't a big deal but it IS a big deal in the middle of winter. (in another fact sheet I received, it was 1,000 feet) Why is it that the needs of CARS are always more important than the needs of pedestrians? If you also are opposed to the elimination of Theater Station, you don't have much time to voice your opinion. Any comments must be received by TOMORROW-August 18. Send your concerns to: Peter Ringo, P. E. DiDonato Associates 689 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203 FAX 716-656-1967

Let your voice be heard!

I am not too thrilled of single lanes only. What will the traffic be like during rush hour? Events? a car stall? delivery stop? or if an emergency vehical has to get through and can't because it's single lanes only? I thought the original plan 5 years ago was much more realistic (2 way traffic up and down Main Street and still room for praking, metro stations would still be shorter and no parking in front of them for people to get off and on.). But I guess we'll see how this goes after it's done, maby after a year, they will consider re-figuring it again to make more room for two way or an emergency lane.

There is absolutely no reason to justify parking on Main Street. There is free light rail. If you need long term parking...park in a garage and take the light rail anywhere on Main Street you want to go.

The parking on Main Street should simply be for pickup and drop off such as UPS/Fedex. Allowing long term parking on Main Street is just begging for trucks and cars to put their flashers on so they can pickup and drop off. This is a huge missed opportunity for a compromise between light rail, returning cars and parking which I think we will quickly regret.

Such ignorance should be remedied immediately by limiting those meters to no more than 10-15 minutes.

I think Main St should be left alone - It looks very nice the way it is ....the reason why it is dead is because the unions took so long to build the train.

The same thing will happen again., probably driving more business away this time. Hate to be negative, but true.

The money would be better spent on something else....perhaps the waterfront.

Oh stop blaming unions for everything. God forbiid people have rights and protect themselves. Unions brought you the 40 hour workweek and the weekend.... ever think about that?

Here's a clue Buffalo, it's capital that's screwed you over for over 100 years, not workers. You're all workers, you are the union. Start standing up for yourself, take your city back instead of begging capital to drop you a scrap.

Oh stop hating people who drive cars, L. Parking on Main Street is just as essential as it was way back when, when parking was originally allowed on Main Street. Unless you run a business on Main Street, then I don't really give a flying f*** about whether or not You think cars should be allowed to park on Main.

Let's take a poll. How many people reading this drive to work? How many take public transportation (or walk or ride a bike)? Please omit the commentary or justification about why you drive (assuming you do). Let's just try to figure out how many of these people who preach the bus/metrorail, actually use it on a daily basis. That might establish once and for all why people need some freaking parking downtown.

...As soon as they allow cars on main street I am sure retail will flock back downtown and give tent city some competition...yep, cars that'll fix it...

If downtown is to be revitalized it must be car friendly, convenient and provide ample parking. The majority of the income for this area resides in the suburbs and those people are not, for the most part, going to be taking public transportation to patronize a downtown business district. Many suburbanites avoid downtown now because it is perceived as not being user friendly.

Virginia,

I bike to work downtown almost year-round, and when it is too snowy or rainy to bike, I ride the bus.

Returning cars to Main Street is not going to change one suburbaniteis perception of downtown. All it is going to do it change the way people who already use Main Street live their lives.

No one from Clarence is going to suddenly drive downtown because Main street has been reopened. They should be driving to South or North campus and taking the train in. We can never provide parking and access that suburban communities have. It is impossible. We demolished half our downtown trying, we cut through city neighborhoods for thruways trying and we are now inhibiting our mass transit trying. We need to compete by being a city, dense, unique and a destination because of things not because of access.

I wish the best to this project but once cars are there people, government agencies and businesses are just going to complain because they can not drive 50mph from end to end and how we need to widen the road to improve access, visability and convenience. All the same reasons we are doing this now.

I am not against cars or people who drive them, BUT the mentallity that they bring has been the ruin of our and many other north american cities.

You know, this is all well and good, but to me, they have one last thing to accomplish, a replacing of the current trains. They should resemble street trollies more than subway cars since they, unlike other cities, surface. The current design isn't very appealing.

The Theatre station is being eliminated because it would further slow down traffic at the point where the trains emerge from underground. Furthermore, all of the stations are every other block except for the Theatre station which is on the adjacent block as Fountian Plaza. So comparativly it isn't that important and doesn't greatly increase anyone's walk.

By the way, how many of you actually went to the public meeting. I did. As for the poll, I'm only here for summers since I'm in school, but I use the train and walk. I'm 20 and haven't even bothered with getting a license.

NFTA steps up downtown express service between downtown and the airport http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2006/08/14/daily36.html?surround=lfn

Ok Gladys and the CRTC ....so why isnt anyone asking the question of a light rail extension to the airport since 6 million airport passengers is causing increased traffic to downtown.

The design team should be commended on a job well down. They removed all the tacky visual clutter and redesigned the main street corridor to make it a more business friendly environment.

sbrof, I wouldn't expect the level of parking to equal that of the suburbs, however I do believe striking a reasonable balance would be beneficial in the long run. As for the mentality of people using cars ruining cities, that is quite the misstatement. People have chosen to use cars. The beauty of liberty is being allowed to make that choice. Trying to force people to do what they don't want to do is not only a violation of natural rights, it is counter-productive to the goal of encouraging downtown development.

Mike, there is already plenty of parking downtown. The mobs of people who flock downtown on weekend evenings to the theaters and bars don't seem to have a problem finding a parking spot. Parking downtown is obviously more of a hassle than in the burbs, but parking is not the #1 concern of all the people who come downtown.

At the last Thursday At the Square I attended there were mobs and mobs of people using the metro rail to get in and out of downtown. It shows many people would rather ride the train than bother with the hassles of parking.

If downtown is to become a retail destination, a major selling point to compete with suburban malls would be the authentic city/urban experience it offers. This is an experience that many people crave for. There are alot of folks who love living in a quiet suburban area but would jump at the chance to shop once a week in a bustling urban setting.

I do agree that parking could be friendler. How about making the big ramps free on weekend afternoon and weeknight evenings? That may be a step in the right direction. Downtown can accomodate cars, but in a way where it doesn't spoil the urban ambience.

Downtown can come back, it will just take a smart, well-coordinated, market-based approach. I'm sure you'd approve...

Did anyone watch Channel 2 News last night? They did a story on how Downtown is Hottt!, and is becoming the fastest growing commuinty in the city of Buffalo. Take that!

I don't think returning cars to Main Street is a good idea at ALL.

The reason businesses failed along the Street is because of the CONSTRUCTION OF THE SUBWAY in the first place - and the time it took to do so, without any provisions to help those businesses during that construction phase.

This will NOT turn out to be a success, and Buffalo will be looking at ANOTHER multi-million dollar boondogle waste of money when the powers that be attempt to fix THIS latest "FIX".

Bad Idea.

Very Bad Idea.

You know I was just thinking about another lost opportunity for Buffalo concerning the downtown stations. We are promoting Buffalo as a city of art and architecture, then why not have local artists and architects submit proposals for the stations on various architectural themes such as Art Deco (City Hall), Art Nuveau (Chippewa), Beaux Arts (Theater District), Maritime (Canal District).

You get my point...each downtown station could be more than a stop.

This idea came from my post about local artists duplicating long lost artifacts central to Buffalos heritage, architecture, design, etc such as the lighting fixtures at the Central Terminal or the Statued Gates at the Pan Pam Expo.

Artists can create art but they can also help to return the soul and personality and history that rightfully belongs in our city that was ignorantly sold away or demolished.

I remain skeptical. Rochester's Main Street is only slightly healthier than Buffalo's and it has had cars all along. It also has more ugly surface parking abutting Main Street than we do. By removing traffic from Main Street, we just may have bought ourselves twenty years of cheap preservation, namely freedom from the pressure to demolish viable buildings for ever more parking.

If this works out well, I'll be as happy as everyone else, but if If we start losing buildings for parking on Main Street, I will never forgive all of you car cheerleaders.

If we want a vibrant arts community then we need to think about how our community can steer more projects to local artists and architects.

If the average yearly wage in Buffalo is $40,000 lets say (I dont know), then I can tell you that there are plenty of local artists and architects that would come up with a design for a light rail station or bus station for not much more than the existing crap proposed.

And these commissions arent going to take a year to design and build.

Oh and Rochester's downtown has a completely different problem. Its downtown is cut off from all the surrounding neighborhoods by the inner loop and the Genesee River which turns into a huge canyon after high falls. Rochester has more money than Buffalo and more small medium and large businesses but they have all largely abandoned the city for a network of suburbs and small towns where Buffalo though poorer remains more urban and urbane. Rochester is a canal town and will never really be anything but a canal/thruway town while Buffalo is a city of the great lakes and a canal/thruway town and a border town....Buffalo has numerous identities to market its future...but it needs to get over its impediments to education and business.

Rochester is also a much more violent town not just because of drugs but because the rich and powerful in rochester market the city as caring while practically offering bus tickets out of the city for those they consider undesirables some of whom have turned into serial murders because of the corporate betrayals and bankruptcies.

The whole mess is due to building a subway in the first place (NFTA brought transit experts from Europe, all of whom said: Do NOT build a subway - keep it above ground & put it underground ONLY downtown, if anywhere - they were quickly dismissed and sent packing) ... but that's history .

Keeping a small bit of Main Street as a pedestrian mall would make sense, and the best block would be: the theater block, which is the only spot where they want to eliminate a stop. The subway-to-surface ramp is such an obvious barrier that it seems incredible they'd try run autos around it. Moving barriers at the ramp entrance? Mistake. Make this first long block the NEW pedestrian mall, and have cars on the rest of Main.

As for "the beauty of liberty" in making "a choice" to own/maintain/drive a car: that choice, if it was one, was made 2 or 3 generations ago, not by the people reading these messages. My only choices were to : buy a car or move to a city with decent public transportation. Remaining in Buffalo without a car was never a possibility if I wanted to work.

With regards to "perspective"'s post - Unions did not give us the 40 hour work week, Henry Ford did when he realized that he could get three shifts of people working on cars 24 hours a day. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford). Unions had thier time and place in the world, however just like big business and politics, they became too powerful. What we need is a balance of the three so that everyone can remain honest and effectively work together without pointing fingers at one another. That's the real problem with Buffalo. It's a lack of accountability and abundance of blame.