Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A big win came for the East Side Parkway Coalition last week, as the Kensington Expressway project was placed on hold by a State Supreme Court Judge until more environmental reviews can be conducted.
Terry Robinson, a longtime Humboldt Parkway resident and member of the East Side Parkway Coalition, says he's happy with the court's decision, but is still waiting for Judge Emilio Colaiacovo to publish his final decision.
"What we want is the right project for this whole project. We don't want to just stop things. We don't want to not do something. What we want to do is the right project for Humboldt Parkway and really the rest of the city, because it's not just a one mile or two mile stretch of construction projects. It's a regional project that really affects the whole city of Buffalo and in the Western New York Region," stated Robinson.
Co-founder of the coalition, Brad Whales, says the court's decision is a monumental win for the City of Buffalo and it's residents.
"If the tunnel was was built, the problem with the tunnel is that it would cement in place for the next 100 years, that the expressway could never be removed," stated Whales. "Highway removal is now the new norm in New York State, Niagara Falls, Rochester Syracuse plan for Albany, plans for the 198. Why not highway removal for the east side too?"
In Judge Colaiacovo's memorandum decision, he expresses his confusion as to why there wasn't an EIS conducted in the first place.
"The EIS is the only instrument that would provide a fair and impartial
analysis of all of the considerable environmental impacts, fully evaluate
alternatives, and mitigate any of the eventual effects that are bound to occur.
As the Court noted during oral argument, one cannot build a Tim Hortons in
Western New York without performing an EIS and having the proper SEQRA
classification. Why the State thought it would simply entertain a project of this
magnitude and not comply with what it otherwise orders others to perform
remains a mystery," stated Colaiacovo.