Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo Council has decided to table a request to make a decision on the Kensington Expressway project.
During Tuesday's council meeting, members from the Restore and Community Coalition (ROCC) and the East Side Parkways Coalition argued whether or not the Kensington should be filled in, with both sides expressing concerns about the environment.
Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope says the council is urging both groups to work together on a solution that they both can stand behind.
"The environmental risks are critically important to me. It's how we resolve the issue. I think there's a middle ground. To ask me to choose one side of my community over another side of my community isn't the space that I want to be in. I think we can work together and figure out what the middle is. One group has been working on it for almost 30 years. The other group has been working on this for about a year and a half and so, or maybe two years, but I think if they can get together and figure out what the middle ground is, that's what matters to me," stated Halton-Pope in an interview with WBEN.
Halton-Pope says it seems like there's intentional divisiveness that's only going to stall any real progress from happening.
"When you start to see the language in both on the newest group, using their same fonts, their same color schemes, everything, it can get very confusing for both sides. Ultimately, their passion should win out. I want to make sure my community is safe and healthy, and I would like to restore. If possible, undo some harm that was done. But that doesn't happen unless we can get people to start speaking with similar voices, and as long as it's still zero-sum, we're gonna be at this impasse," stated Halton-Pope.
Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt says there's not enough information on the environmental impact to make a decision at this time, but says this is something that can't wait around forever.
"At the end of the day, one of the things I'm very concerned about is that we may lose this money. With the current president in office, are they going to come and strip this money from us? It's a possibility. And so while we're sitting here going back and forth on this aspect of it, we may lose it totally if we don't get together and make a decision and support that decision so that something can happen. I'd rather have something happen that could be a benefit to improving the neighborhood, as opposed to nothing," stated Wyatt.