The Blackrock and Riverside sections of Buffalo could be nationally renowned neighborhoods with an extraordinary quality of life. But rather than securing a gorgeous waterfront as public space, we have allowed a massive interstate to sever the city from it’s waterfront, causing suppressed property values, inhibited development opportunities, and a poorer quality of life for the entire city.
But this 1960s-era mistake can be fixed — and what emerges will be transformational.
It will take political leadership that is more daring than we’ve had in a longtime. It will take civic leaders with more vision. It will take developers who are more enlightened. It will take a political system that is more constructive. It will take planners who are more assertive.
And it will take a populace willing to dream better.
Good idea. The State will have to lean hard on CSX to use the rail rights-of-way to relocate the 190. The State relocated the Moses away from downtown Niagara Falls, so this too is possible.
Follow the proposed route on Googlemaps.com earth satellite images . Once you get north of Skillen Street , the rail right of way is not wide enough for a 4 lane highway. It would require a major destruction of business and residential property.
And, where is the rail road going to be relocated? Or are you proposing another noisy elevated highway as in downtown Buffalo?
BTW, the Robert Moses Parkway was not “relocated”. It was just removed with no alternative besides the existing city streets.