BUFFALO (WBEN) - Congressman Brian Higgins and State Senator Tim Kennedy held a virtual press conference Monday, saying the Skyway project will remain on hold until the state addresses the needs of the community.
While they both maintain that the Skyway is an obstruction to the full potential of Buffalo's waterfront, Higgins and Kennedy are now calling for several transportation improvements prior to the eventual removal of the controversial structure, as they say the state's plan at this point fails to provide commuters and the community with a better way forward.
These suggestions include:
-Improvements to the Thruway and the elimination of tolls at Hamburg to provide better options to commuters
-More efficient stop light patterns to encourage neighborhood economic development and ease of travel in the City of Buffalo
-A new Parkway, park, and bike path at Tifft Street connecting South Buffalo and the Buffalo Harbor State Park
-A new Louisiana Street bridge crossing the Buffalo River at the I-190 and other improvements to build on the momentum of the Riverline and other projects
"It is important that the congressman and I are working toward infrastructure projects that are ready to go, and we believe that (the above improvements)...are going to further the goal of ultimately removing the Skyway," began Kennedy. "Now, that may be 10-15 years from now when its useful life is finally over, but what we shouldn't do is fail to recognize that the usefulness and the life of the Skyway is ultimately coming to an end.
"The fact there's been an investment in it has bought the Skyway another 10-15 years, so we need to be in the planning stages for the next 10-15 years, and in the mean time, we need to create infrastructure to give us viable alternatives to the Skyway," Kennedy added.
Higgins said that they sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo's office and to the commissioner of the Department of Transportation, Hank Gutman, expressing their disappointment that the Environmental Impact Statement process is not moving in the direction they want it to.
"We had to answer some fundamental questions in this process - what is the commuter experience and how does this change for people living in Hamburg?" said Higgins. "That is a fundamental question that the state DOT was just not answering, and that's why we're calling for the removal of the tolls for Hamburg commuters. Before you can replace the Skyway with anything, you have to provide a better inland alternative.
"This was just moving in a direction that Tim and I were very concerned about, and therefore, we're just changing strategy here," Higgins continued. "We're emphasizing the things that can get done, the things that are not controversial, the things that we think will improve everybody's quality of life, and we think we can get them done - creating a lot of jobs, bringing in a lot of federal money into other projects in the region that are important as well."
Kennedy said these improvement would "set the stage for the future of the Skyway" in the next 10-15 years.
Of course, everything is going to hinge on whether the massive federal highway bill that Higgins has been touting for years, even prior to President Biden's administration, passes this summer.
"There are so many different infrastructure projects that we need to fight for, so we have to be on the same page, and we need to make sure that our community is all singing with one voice, we are cohesive, and we are galvanized behind various projects," said Kennedy. "That's what we are going to be able to do here when we fight for funding for alternative routes into the city that will enhance everyone's commute."
However, there doesn't even appear to be that level of cohesiveness among local state legislators. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes has previously stated that covering the Kensington should be ahead of the Skyway on the priority list of major city infrastructure projects.
And of course, that doesn't even take into account the opinions and desires of Southtowns residents or residents of Buffalo.
"I'll let the majority leader speak for herself..." said Kennedy. "We agree with the majority leader; however, we also recognize that there are other priority projects that need to be dealt with at the same time, and that is why we are fighting to get as many of these infrastructure dollars into our community as possible.
"What the congressman and I are saying is that the Skyway being removed is going to wait for another day - 10-15 years down the road," he continued. "We'll have plenty of time for community input; we'll have plenty of time to hear from the public and to give their opinion, but in the mean time, we cannot sit back on our hands and pretend that this federal highway bill is not going to get done and that we shouldn't prioritize our community and get as many of those resources to make a better commute for the people from the Southtowns into the city and vice-versa."
