Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Terry Robinson, an almost 40-year Humboldt Parkway resident in Buffalo, has filed a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Transportation over plans to tunnel a portion of the 33 Expressway.
The $1 billion project to tunnel the 33, also known as the Kensington Expressway, seeks to cover about a three-quarter mile stretch of the roadway with a tunnel and greenspace on top.
A growing number of residents of Buffalo are starting to believe that adding a stretch of tunnel with a "tree-lined greenspace setting" is not restoring the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted and will only continue to give nearby residents more health problems if the New York State Department of Transportation does not conduct an environmental impact statement.
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"We feel that the state department of transportation has not been compliant with the state environmental quality review (SEQR) regulations," said Robinson on WBEN Monday. "We're asking the state to comply with the law and do a proper environmental study and consider the impact on the people most directly affected by the proposed project."
Robinson has a lot of concerns about the project. "For one, tunnels don't just happen. They have to blast through some of the hardest bedrock in the area. The construction will continue for about four years. We're talking about radon gas emissions and about 250,000 square-feet of asbestos that is on the retaining walls that have to be demolished."
He said his home will be 50-to-60 feet away from the construction and he also noted the lack of consideration for the people who live there.
Moving forward, Robinson said the only viable option is to abandon the 33, and fill it in, and connect it to a new smart grid, which in turn, would restore the historic Olmsted Parkway.
"It's the proper return on the investment. It could be done at literally, one tenth of the cost of the $1 billion boondoggle."
A judge is set to hear arguments in Robinson's lawsuit on Jan. 10.