Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – Protestors with signs reading “No Toxic Tunnel” and “Restore Humboldt Parkway” congregated on Bailey Avenue in Buffalo on Friday, as Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the green light from the federal government to move forward with the $1 billion Kensington Expressway project.
“Their rallying cry is: ‘Reimagining the Kensington.’ There’s nothing reimagined when you put a concrete cap with some grass on top of a narrow stretch of highway,” said Michael Gainer of the Eastside Parkways Coalition.
“The governor called for something courageous, there’s nothing courageous about a cap that goes three quarters of a mile that will not be extended. There is no phase two of this project. The Scajaquada Creek drains there, this project is going to offer limited connectivity and nothing but decreased health outcomes for the community.”
For months, members of the East Side Parkways Coalition and collaborating groups have been analyzing the the New York State Department of Transportation’s Draft Design Report/Environmental Assessment plan to build a tunnel and cap over a three-quarters-of-a-mile stretch of the Kensington Expressway between Sidney and Dodge Streets.