As the State of New York moves forward with their plans for redesign of the Scajaquada Expressway, they have from time to time stopped by to ask people of Buffalo what kind of high-capacity highway they would like to have running through Buffalo’s Delaware park. After a bit of cajoling and on orders from the Governor they finally indicated that they will consent to making the road “park themed”.
The next chance for you to participate in the design process is May 19th from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Frederick Law Olmsted Public School Gym, 874 Amherst Street in Buffalo. The public notice for the meeting says that project staff will be on hand to provide information about the project studies in an open house setting.
The NYDOT project scoping document states the following objectives for the proposed roadway revision.
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Address identified geometric and operational deficiencies along NYS Route 198 in a manner that promotes traffic calming and enhances safety for users;
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Accommodate vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian travel modes within the project corridor;
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Improve connectivity between both sections of Delaware Park on either side of the roadway and between the park and adjacent neighborhoods;
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Enhance the compatibility of the roadway with the unique characteristics of Delaware Park and adjacent land uses while conserving the natural features of the site to the greatest extent possible; and
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Address identified infrastructure deficiencies, such as deteriorated pavement,antiquated and non functioning drainage systems, and inefficient street lighting, within the project area
While they list these as their goals, they left off the real goal, which is to continue moving large volumes of traffic through the park. They call the new design a boulevard to make it sound nice. They claim that the road will be park themed but in reality the park theme will be a mere decoration to a high volume of relatively fast-moving traffic. Based on the state’s scoping document the “boulevard” will have two travel lanes in each direction, as it does now in its current configuration. The “boulevard” will still be plugged into traditional high-speed limited access highways at each end, thereby guaranteeing high volumes of traffic with drivers expecting to move quickly. There will be no parking lane to create barriers between the park at the traffic flow. They show cross walks but have designed wide complex intersections, which allow cars pass through without coming to a stop. This means the pedestrian needs to dodge on coming traffic to cross the road. Good luck with that!
The State’s scoping document states that they have already rejected alternate options for a street with just one travel lane in each direction or elimination of the highway in favor of a park road. They claim that their traffic studies show that intersections in the area would not function efficiently if these alternates were implemented. It is likely that their traffic studies did not take into account the fact that the highway itself generates much of the traffic on local feeder roads or that many people would take alternate routes in the event the park was no longer used as a high-speed corridor.
Based on the scoping document it is clear that NYDOT’s only real concern is moving lots of traffic. This is understandable. That is their mission and reason for being. But the city of Buffalo and its citizens deserve a city that is more than a conduit for high volumes of traffic. It is also clear that NYDOT should not be in charge of designing this road through Buffalo’s main park. Reconstruction of the Scajaquada is a monumental new opportunity for Buffalo to repair the city after the monumentally bad decision to put a highway here 60 years ago. Fixing the Scajaquada corridor from the Kensington to the river is one of those rare historical opportunities to transform the city in a way that benefits many generations into the future. NYDOT wants to move cars through the city. That is ALL they want to do. The people of Buffalo deserve more than that.
Make your voice heard loud and clear go to the meeting today and demand more. I am told the the format meeting is eight tables with display boards and 12 “buttonholers” who will query the wander-inners whether they want the urban boulevard to have a 4′, 16′ or 20′ median with one or two rows of trees. This is the shallow level of decision-making that is being foisted onto Buffalo for the next several generations.
If you want to make your voice heard into the future hook up with one of these more forward-looking groups and start the heavy lifting it will take to do the Scajaquda right. I received this message from a Scajaquada Coalition member:
We have a pretty strong and cohesive Scajaquada Corridor Coalition, and the Western end now has a study underway by Make Communities — Anthony Armstrong, Brad Wales RA and Jason Knight. It’s inclusive of the Tonawanda Street BOA, Vision Niagara’s project by Hiro Hata at UB with UB Regional Institute http://niagarastreetnow.org/ and small projects like Riverkeeper’s paddlesports launch http://www.wkbw.com/news/demolition-on-niagara-street-creating-green-space. Bigger projects like Creek water quality are not in the scope of the DOT though it remains a massive and expensive problem. http://www.investigativepost.org/tag/scajaquada-creek/
Olmsted Conservancy has recently come out with their short and long-term position which is short-term accommodate traffic, long-term removal. https://www.bfloparks.org/bopc-position-statement-on-route-198-scajaquada-expressway/
Make sure your elected officials know you want Buffalo to be planned and designed for the future not compromised due to bad decisions made in 1950.