Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - With the help of some federal funding from Washington, D.C., the Town of Orchard Park is going to get the chance to further examine the safety of streets for residents and pedestrians around the new Highmark Stadium.
Congressman Nick Langworthy (R, NY-23) announced on Friday that $120,000 in federal funding has been awarded to Orchard Park through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program to develop a Bills Stadium Safe Streets Action Plan.
The funding will support the development of a comprehensive safety action plan focused on improving pedestrian, bicycle, and motorist safety in the area surrounding the new Highmark Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills come the 2026 season.
The plan will assess existing conditions, and recommend targeted infrastructure improvements — including wider sidewalks, upgraded curb ramps, and enhanced crosswalks — with an emphasis on reducing fatal and serious-injury crashes.
"The construction of the new Highmark Stadium is a transformational opportunity. You see these stadiums in other parts of the country, when a new stadium comes in, it creates a lot of development opportunities. But we have to always make sure that we have pedestrian safety, especially in a tailgate-friendly environment like we have where the pedestrian activity is part of what fuels the team," said Rep. Langworthy in an interview with WBEN.
The Safe Streets Action Plan will include an inventory of current roadway and pedestrian conditions, design recommendations, project phasing, and a clear implementation roadmap. These findings will guide future infrastructure investments and help improve safety and accessibility for all roadway users.
"This stadium draws hundreds of thousands of people to Orchard Park every single year, and the $120,000 we were able to secure through DOT will help create a plan and develop a comprehensive safety action plan focused on improving pedestrian and motorist safety in the area surrounding the new Highmark Stadium," Langworthy said.
The grant is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Secretary and supports communities within New York’s 23rd Congressional district. He feels this grant is a smart use of taxpayer dollars.
"Public safety has to always come first, and we can help draw a blueprint to make sure that as we're dealing with any infrastructure changes that have to come in due to the new Highmark Stadium, we're doing so focused on keeping the people on foot safe," Langworthy said. "That is something that we're very fortunate to have great professionals at the Erie County Sheriff's Office and the Orchard Park Police, as well as all the volunteer fire service. But any emphasis we can do to modernize those efforts is really critical, and hopefully these federal funds will go to help that overall effort that the state, the county, and certainly the township are undertaking."
Langworthy feels the application for Orchard Park to receive these federal dollars for the study was really driven by the brand new stadium coming in, and the new development and infrastructure likely to come.
"I think it's timely, it's necessary, and it's something we have to be focused on, making sure that the fan experience and the public is kept safe at all costs," he said. "Hopefully we can invest some federal dollars here to help draw the blueprints that are necessary for anything that comes down the road.
"We have [30] NFL cities, and we are so blessed to have the Bills here. As the person that represents the stadium, I meet people from all over the country every single week, and one of the first or second things out of their mouth is 'Buffalo Bills'. This is our identity. In terms of population, we're not a city that, on any chart, should have an NFL team. But we do and we're going to have them for a long time thanks to the investment here by the Pegulas, the state and the localities that have ensured that the Bills will stay here so that our kids, and hopefully our grandkids, can enjoy this team for years to come."