Buffalo Rising Online

Aug 20th 2007, 10:55am By queenseyes

With so much attention being given to the Inner Harbor these days it may be easy to lose focus on the waterfront as a whole. Last week Assemblyman Sam Hoyt set out on his annual waterfront bike tour, but this time he brought along a different accompanying entourage. Along for the ride were Thomas Pericak (Buffalo Division Director NYS Thruway Authority), Carmella Mantello (Director NYS Canal Corporation) and Richard Harris (Deputy Director), Julie O’Neill (Riverkeepers) and Jay “Micropark” McCarthy.

The point of the ride was to identify a number of solutions to enhance public access to the water… not just to the waterside. The Canal Corporation’s grand vision is to connect Buffalo with NY City via a canal/waterside trail. The immediate goal is to connect Buffalo with Albany… and then go the rest of the way. And it just so happens that there are buried (but exposed) Erie Canal walls all along the Black Rock Canal, which runs parallel to the Niagara River.

It is interesting to note that with the absence of the tollbooths along the route, there is now some land that could be freed up for just this sort of trail. Along with trails cutting through the future Sunset Promenade Park site (top photo - the Canal Corporation has already allocated $200,000 to get that going) and a reconnection with Broderick Park, there is a hint of a solidified plan already coming together. This new public trail would mean the elimination of existing trails that lead away from the water up to Niagara Street (see above). The current trail is not fit for a safe, non-interrupted bike ride. When we arrived to many of the waterfront destinations such as Broderick Park, members of the Canal Corporation were shocked at the underutilized condition of the land. They saw the possibilities and commented time and time again on how lucky Buffalo was to have the foundations for capitalizing on something so great. By the time we arrived to Squaw Island there had been so many ideas discussed that it was hard to keep track of them. Members of the bike party were excited to see the recent success of Squaw Island, but were a bit saddened to see the lack of attention paid to the Army Core of Engineers operated Black Rock Locks (see photo above). Once again Buffalo has gotten the short end of the stick, because if this had been a state run lock system it would have been celebrated by (and for) the public. Instead it is wrapped in a Federal cloak, so the public barely even knows that it exists. Very sad. One of the biggest surprises of the ride had to come in the form of Tow Path Park (see photo above). Recent monies allocated for that parcel of land have converted the park into a small oasis for people to walk and fish. Unfortunately there is no waterfront access from the Tow Path to Squaw Island because privately owned Rich Marina sits smack in-between the two. Finally we paid a visit to the deplorable Ontario Street Boat Launch – although there is a neat walking bridge, the rest of it is an asphalt mess with not much else going for it. This is the only free boat-launch in the city and could, without much thought, be turned into a green oasis with park benches and a small micro-park.

The fact that the state funded Canal Corporation is beginning to take a look at what would be “The longest multi-use trail in the country” is more exciting than it is daunting. With the recent successes of Tow Path Park and Squaw Island (dump to park), there is a natural chain of events that must continue if we want to tie our waterfront together. And with the addition of the FL Boathouse, it would also be wise to start to step up efforts in LaSalle Park. And from there? Unfortunately The City was not forward thinking enough to build a walking trail between the private condos and the harbor. That would be one of the few remaining pieces of the puzzle.