There have been plenty of ideas bandied about, per linking the Inner Harbor and the Outer Harbor via bike-ped bridges. Congressman Higgins has discussed the possibility of a bridge near General Mills. Then there have been a number of ideas linked to potential makeovers of The Skyway. To that end, I recently received an email from Dave M., as follows:
- Do you know when they are going to open the Ohio Street Bridge by Ganson Street, near The Old First Ward? It’s been under construction and closed for quite awhile now. If you were to start biking by the Outer Harbor on Fuhrmann Blvd. by the Marina and go under the tunnel onto Ohio Street and bike towards The Old First Ward you would come up to the Ohio Street bridge (so far a nice bike path) which is closed. Now the unsafe biking begins. You have to detour and turn left onto Ganson Street going towards General Mills and RiverWorks. Ganson street is a mess for bicycles and walkers/runners and especially dangerous for young children. There’s only a little room on the limited sidewalks and even they are beat up and unsafe. When you pass RiverWorks you must make a right hand turn onto S Michigan over a bridge that barely has room to even bike on. Cars are coming in each direction on Ganson St. & S. Michigan and it’s unsafe for bicycles in the daytime let alone nighttime where I wouldn’t risk my life dodging cars and trucks. Once you go over the bridge on S. Michigan St. you can make a right back onto Ohio Street by The Swannie House bar and it’s safe to bike there on your way to Resurgence brewery or Gene McCarthy’s. I’ve tried contacting many City of Buffalo employees but no one wants to check into it.
Even after the Ohio Street bridge reopens, there are opportunities at hand, to create safer, and more convenient bike-ped routes in that district. One that is readily at hand is being considered by Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. I spoke to Executive Director, Jill Jedlicka, who told me that there is currently a feasibility study underway, to determine the possibilities of a bike-ped bridge that would link the Inner Harbor and the Outer Harbor.
“Our idea is to look at the missing link along the Buffalo Riverwalk, through creation of a new trail connection directly from the Michigan Street Bridge to the entire length of Kelly Island shoreline, then across Ganson Street. Ideally, the route would then utilize an at-grade crossing at the point where there is only a single rail track/spur (before the rail expands again into the yard that services local businesses), with a modest bike-ped bridge over the City Ship Canal, connecting to the existing bike path on the other side, and under Route 5 to the Outer Harbor,” said Jedlicka.
At this point, there are a lot of assumptions, according to Jedlicka. They must coordinate with the owners of the rail line, as well as with other property owners. Then they need to suss out the overall feasibility and the cost, before taking the next step. There must also be coordination with active businesses, in the least impactful and least expensive way.
If accessing the rail line at-grade is not possible, then Waterkeeper will look at an ADA-compliant elevated walkway over the rail. Once again, they will look at the feasibility and the cost associated with that project.
The last scenario would be to create a bike-ped connection along Ganson, from Michigan to Ohio, along the Buffalo River (the RiverWorks side of Kelly Island). That scenario would involve the cooperation of landowners as well.
“This could also be a phased approach,” added Jedlicka. “The important thing is to establish a route before future developments take place on the waterfront parcels. And situations might change over time, which would impact all of this. We’re hoping to have the feasibility study and renderings completed by this fall.”