Buffalo Rising Online

Dare I ask... Bike Lanes? How is this project impacted by the city's newly approved Complete Streets legislation?

I hope the city does improvements to allen st., I think in a few years people will be driving on gravel. The road is falling apart.

South Buffalo is FINALLY getting some much needed attention and two of three comments so far want some for Allen an Chip. Streets?!? Can we get some spending down for a day guys? You should have said "How about Seneca St next?" Have you been on Seneca St lately? How about doing South Park all the way to the Arena? Chippew and Allen look fine and get alot of attention and maintenance. Lets focus on some forgotten areas of the city for a change. This article is GREAT news!

What is a bulb out?

All of South Park from the DL&W to the Lackawanna Line should be done.

I hope landscaping means trees!

I hope they get rid of that industrial lighting that arches over the road for something more human scaled, traditional/period and of course efficient.

South Buffalo is too often the neglected part of Buffalo and it proves that poverty is no excuse for the animalistic gangs and drugs plaguing the eastside. Its nice to see this section of the city being rewarded with some attention...its a strong community and it deserves to be celebrated and acknowledged.

ExWNYer - a bulb out is an urban design technique where the sidewalk areas at the corners of the intersection are pushed out slightly into the street and rounded. It is used to add pedestrian safety and calm traffic. It creates a better dileniation between pedestrian ways and auto traffic. It also makes the street a shorter distance to cross, as more of it is pedestrian right of way.

It looks like what they did with Hertel. It's a good model for what can be done. Improve the infrastructure so that private businesses and residences can flourish, instead of the government enacting some grand over-arching urban plan (we've seen how well those work). The most promising developments downtown have come from private developers and businesses, many of them instead of one or two big ones, whose efforts combine into something greater. Fix the lights, pave the roads, police the streets, plant some trees, and let business take care of the rest. I think they did some work on Chippewa several years ago - planted trees, redid the streetlights. You could do cartwheels naked down the government-planned Main Street pedestrian mall on a Friday night but Chippewa, with no planning, developed in time.

I think this project is great news. Slowly and surely we are rebuilding the neighborhoods that were the roots of our entire region. Hopefully the contractors that are awarded the job will do a better one than Hertel. I live on Hertel, and walk it frequently, its unfortunate that many of the aprons on the curbs are already falling apart. Same holds true in the University District on Main Street..that fake brick sidewalk is falling apart and it hasn't even been 5 years yet!

So Higgins and Keane have had funding for Seneca St. for a long time now and nothing has improved yet on Seneca street other than someone painting some of the light pole. When are we going to see the improvements take place on Seneca St.? What are the timeframes for both of these jobs since funding has been in place for Seneca St. and its been months and nothing has changed? Can we expect the same for South Park Ave.?

urbanboarder is exactly right. I travel down Hertel and Main street (by foot or bike) every single day on my way to work and the craftsmanship for the work is down right wasteful. I have several pictures of Hertel and Main street were the 'new' stuff is already falling apart and literally crumbling. Concrete work for warmer climates where the temperature gradients don't shift so much. Around here it only takes a couple years before it takes it tole and everything starts to literally disintegrate.

The stamped concrete on both streets is a shame and looks horrible in some areas. AND ITS NEW! Why don't we just understand it is crappy material and ill suited for use. Now look at Allen Street... god knows when that was paved with the brick and it still looks good year and years after completion. It can heave, shift and move with the freeze thaw without cracking and falling apart.

It also looks nicer and lets water filter through it instead of pushing into the stormwater system, which then causes it to overflow into our creeks and rivers. You want to combat the sewage that flows through Delaware park and into the Scajaquada creek.. Stop putting in stamped concrete and impervious asphalt and put in some pavers and bricks instead.

Bulb-outs need to become standard on main thoroughfares with high commercial and pedestrian activity. The stupid excuse that snowplows can't navigate them is completely nonsense. Many other snowy cities have them.

Townline, agreed. I was in Finland where they have so many bulb outs and pavers that you would think their plows would blow up before leaving the garage.. It is an excuse that lazy DPW workers give because they don't want to actually try or think to do their job.. I mean how can you blow down a street at 50mph not caring what you plow if there is a bulb out or raised intersections, or pavers..

Instead they would actually have to take some time and care to do a good job.

Yeah, Kearns isn't a Byron tool. I also imagine that he's pissed off Higgins by calling out the rt. 5 highway reconstruction plan for what it really is rather than buying into Higgins' nonsense "olmsted like parkway" bullshit.

Good for Kearns!

I love all the comments about bulbouts, and couldn't agree more. We did a major streetscape project in my neighborhood several years ago which pioneered their use in My Fair City, and they have been a huge success. One of the major functions they serve is to create areas of 'protected parking' - prior to their installation drivers in a hurry would turn the parking lane into a second travel lane, and the swerving in and out led to cars being sideswiped regularly. It simply hasn't happened since - and it's been years. As TranspoGuy points out, they also make a huge difference to pedestrians in getting across the street, doing so much to make a street feel and be more pedestrian friendly. We also used many of the bulbouts as additional planting spaces for greenery and pocket gardens which literally change the landscape of the neighborhood. TownLine is spot on about these needing to become standard.

Don't give up on bulbouts in this project! Note in the last paragraph of the article that the actual design work hasn't begun yet (also confirmed in the Buffalo News coverage) - what was displayed today are concept drawings (probably used in lobbying for the funding). CALLING ALL BULBOUT BELIEVERS: here's your big chance to set a precedent in Buffalo! Like the issue last month with the bike parking, it may take a bit of activism, but it should be doable. Progressive urban design advocates could meet with the South Park Avenue Renaissance Committee and South Buffalo Alive, as well as whichever planning/engineering firm will be doing the design work - and I bet would get their backing. If City Hall officials resist due to the snowplowing issue, bring them here to My Fair City to talk with our public works department. Seriously! It snows here, and our public works department was initially skeptical about bulbouts way back when, but they are now thoroughly converted and are strong advocates for them.

Let the bulbout revolution begin, and let South Park be the first battleground!

the only problem is that while the pavement may look real smashing the shit vertically surrounding it looks like hell, ie family dollar, rent-a-center, tv repair shop. this is a superficial improvement to a shithole of an area. Sorry, S. Bflo lovers, face the reality.

the funny thing is there ARE bulb outs on Whiteny place.. probably been there for 15 years at least... and they totally change the perspective and entrance conditions for that street making it very pleasant and comfortable to drive, walk or bike through.

We can't even follow our own good idea because everyone always wants to come up with something new and glamorous instead of going with what is proven to work.

Totally agree about adding bulbouts. The previous Commissioner of Public Works, Joe Giambra, wouldn't put them in because he was afraid snow plow drivers would hit them. Totally lame. Hopefully the new commish sees differently.

And how about a couple of roundabouts? They add beauty, keep traffic moving, and are statistcally proven to be safer than traditional intersections.

Totally agree about adding bulbouts. The previous Commissioner of Public Works, Joe Giambra, wouldn't put them in because he was afraid snow plow drivers would hit them. Totally lame. Hopefully the new commish sees differently.

And how about a couple of roundabouts? They add beauty, keep traffic moving, and are statistcally proven to be safer than traditional intersections.

roundabouts also save people gas because you only slow down and not stop.

the_trooper, you must be completely blind. I've lived on Allen street for almost 7 years now, it has never been paved once and was trashed when I moved in. Go stand at the Jim's at Elmwood and Allen. Look at the trashed street corner. The A$$hole Jim's delivery guys park their cars on the corner and have completely ruined the curb. Bricks are missing at it just looks terrible. Park of Chippewa was repaved in the last year of two, but Allen really is falling apart.

Well the roadway for allen falling apart but the sidewalk and curbs are relatively intact, except for a few occurrences. In that regard the trooper is correct because if you go down south park, seneca and most other commercial streets everything is trashed.. not just the road.