By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – The call to remove Buffalo's Skyway is receiving some national support.
The Congress for New Urbanism announced that Buffalo is one of just three cities selected to be part of a national study that will examine the removal of elevated highways. Western New York Congressman Brian Higgins has been leading the charge to have the Skyway span removed.
Thursday, President of the Congress for New Urbanism and former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist appeared in Buffalo with Higgins and Mayor Byron Brown. Norquist says removal of the Skyway would allow the city to reconnect downtown and the waterfront.
"The idea of having an elevated freeway between Buffalo and beautiful Lake Erie was an error made years ago," Norquist said.
Norquist says tearing down the Skyway could make life better in Buffalo, save taxpayers money and create all types of new development. Mayor Brown agrees.
"We believe that by removing the Skyway ,this is a major way to rebuild the tax base in the city of Buffalo," Brown said.
But when asked about how much it would cost to remove the Skyway, Congressman Higgins says no one should get fixated on the price tag.
"The people of this community would be incensed, and ought to be indignant, when you look at the maintenance cost of the Skyway over the past five years. It is unsafe and blocks the city's inner and outer harbor," Higgins said. "It is a physical and psychological barrier."
Higgins says it would probably take five to ten years before the Skyway could be removed.
The national study will provide traffic information and other data to help fight any resistance to remove the span.