BUFFALO (WBEN) - The City of Buffalo is now underway on a large reconstruction project on Allen Street. The goal is to widen the street and add bikes lanes to the area, and it could take the better part of a year, if not longer.
One such person who falls into the former category of the two is Rick's Cycle Shop Manager Mitch Benz. He doesn't just think the widening of Allen Street will be bad during the actual construction, he believes it will be detrimental to the area when it's finished.
"I don't think it's quite a good idea with the plan that they're going with," said Benz. "Reducing walkability of this area is going to be a huge impact because that's one of the things that brings people down here."
In the short-term, Benz sees the construction as a major problem.
"We don't have a parking lot; we're an inner city bike shop. We rely heavily on street parking and public transportation for people to get here," he said. "You can see there's a big truck parked across the street, they have jackhammers going - it's going to make it difficult, especially in the spring time when you have a quiet winter for six months with very little people coming in."