Mayor Sean Ryan was joined today by Congressman Tim Kennedy, members of the Buffalo Common Council, representatives from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, and the Buffalo Sewer Authority to break ground on the transformative Middle Main Streetscape Project, a significant infrastructure investment that will redesign and modernize a 2.5-mile stretch of Main Street from Goodell Street to Kensington Avenue. The project is expected to be completed in spring of 2029.
The project is focused on creating a safer, more accessible, and more connected Main Street corridor in Buffalo for residents, businesses, cyclists, pedestrians, transit riders, and motorists alike. In addition to roadway repaving, the project includes major upgrades aimed at improving safety, accessibility, green infrastructure, beautification, and quality of life along one of Buffalo’s most important commercial and transportation corridors.
“It’s no secret that the infrastructure on Main Street has been ignored for too long,” Mayor Ryan said. “This project is about finally investing in the Main Street Buffalo deserves. We need safer streets, better sidewalks, modern infrastructure, improved accessibility, and stronger connections between neighborhoods, businesses, and destinations across our city. This is exactly how we build a better Buffalo.”
The project’s cost of approximately $70 million is supported through a combination of federal, state, and local funding sources. The largest share, $41.6 million, comes from federal transportation funds, including a $25 million RAISE Grant, with the remaining federal portion programmed through the region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). State funding totals $21.5 million and includes New York State’s match for TIP-funded work through the Marchiselli Aid Program, as well as CHIPS funding associated with the corridor’s State Touring Route designation. Local contributions total $6.9 million, including $1.5 million provided by the Buffalo Sewer Authority.
As for the protected bike lanes, GObike Buffalo’s Interim Executive Director Kevin Heffernan had this to say about the project:
“Finally! GObike and the Western New Yorkers we work for who walk, who bike, who ride transit, and who drive are thrilled to see this project finally break ground. For far too long, Main Street was a speedway for reckless drivers that was so unsafe for people outside and inside of motor vehicles. The car-first, car-fast design led not only to ridiculous, unnecessary traffic violence, but also to economic devastation, and it was so uninviting that it underlined the notion that Main Street was the line along which we segregated our city’s neighbors.
“Now, with rebuilt sidewalks, protected bike paths, and traffic calming elements that will lead to safety improvements for every road user, we are removing a dividing barrier and inviting people to reconnect and congregate along the city’s transportation spine.”
The Middle Main Streetscape Project includes:
- Full roadway repaving along the 2.5-mile corridor
- New ADA-compliant sidewalks and pedestrian improvements
- Replacement and modernization of traffic signals and intersections
- Protected bicycle infrastructure designed for riders of all ages and abilities on both sides of the corridor
- Enhanced crosswalks and safer pedestrian crossings
- New street trees, landscaping, shrubbery, benches, trash receptacles, and trellises
- Upgraded LED street lighting and pedestrian-scale lighting
- Green infrastructure improvements in partnership with the Buffalo Sewer Authority
- 2.5 miles of new bicycle infrastructure
- Improvements designed to better connect neighborhoods to transit, jobs, businesses, and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
This summer, people traveling along Main Street will notice the following changes as construction gets underway:
- Work will begin on the west side of the street, starting near Goodell Street and moving north.
- Main Street will be reduced to two travel lanes, with parking available only on the east side.
- Parking on the west side of the street, in the construction area, will be temporarily unavailable.
All businesses in the construction area will remain accessible, and sidewalks on both sides of the street will remain open.