BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - It's been almost two years since the train station site selection committee picked Exchange Street as the site of a new train station for Buffalo.
Governor Andrew Cuomo in October 2016 called for a new train station in the City of Buffalo to replace Buffalo's aging and damaged Amtrak Station on Exchange Street and said New York State would fund $25 million in design and study costs if Buffalo could make a selection within six months.
"The epitome of the Old Buffalo to me was how the proposal for a new Peace Bridge was handled," Cuomo said in October 2016. "Literally, Western New York debated a new Peace Bridge for 20 or 30 years. They got mired in controversy and no decision was ever made and no bridge was ever built."
On April 20, 2017, the site selection committee picked Exchange Street. Two years later, little has changed.
VIEW: NYS DOT RENDERINGS OF EXCHANGE STREET TRAIN STATION
The New York State Department of Transportation, who is leading the project, announced in December that the new Exchange Street station will be twice the size of its current station and offer travelers an "interconnected gateway to Downtown Buffalo". It will also be elevated and moved closer to the street. A second phase of the project will expand the station further by adding bus service and additional train routes. The entire project is expected to be completed by Fall 2020.
Buffalo Common Councilman David Franczyk said he could not care less about what's happening at the Exchange Street site because of his prior push to have the train station at Buffalo's Central Terminal.
"Now they're putting this half-assed train station that's going to go up and be a gesture," Franczyk said. "That will be more years to come. The 'Amshak' is falling down on itself on Exchange Street and now they're just going to do some small modifications that doesn't hold a lot of interest for me."
Franczyk said he hasn't seen any updates on the Amtrak train station.
Like Franczyk, Assemblyman Sean Ryan also expressed his disappointment over the train station's lack of real progress.
Governor Cuomo last month made headlines with another call to action: An alternative to the skyway. Like the train station, Cuomo created a six-month window, this time for a design alternative.
"Let's have that dialogue about what we want," Cuomo said. "Pick a winner. Then we need a design and then we go."
Assemblyman Sean Ryan said we have to "watch and see" regarding the Skyway. Franczyk said the governor has the power to control the process regarding the Skyway but he doesn't expect anything to happen soon with the Skyway.
"Don't hold your breath," Franczyk said. "It could be a number of years before they do anything as radical as removing the Skyway."
Franczyk said he believes Cuomo is genuine in his concern for local transportation issues. He also said it's reasonable to think the Skyway could come down in five years while the train station could see its changes within five years, too.
"It will be a brand new 'Amshak', not the old 'Amshak' with the roof caving in on itself," Franczyk said.