By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – The State Transportation Department is moving forward on a study of the Kensington Expressway.
An advisory committee is being formed that will define the scope of the study. Today's urban planners have long criticized the decisions made more than 40 years ago to cut through a city neighborhood in constructing the expressway. The study will analyze the feasibility of alternatives to cover an area of the high-walled section of the Kensington Expressway between Dodge and East Ferry streets, thereby reuniting neighborhoods.
"Under the leadership of Governor Paterson, the State Department of Transportation continues to work with community state and local elected officials, as well as business and community leaders, to improve our transportation system," Acting DOT Commissioner Stanley Gee said. "This project study will provide a comprehensive assessment for reuniting the communities that border the Kensington Expressway."
The timetable calls for the advisory committee to develop the study parameters by the end of this year so that it can begin sometime in 2010. DOT Regional Design Engineer Darrell Kaminski says one component of the study will likely focus on the resources for funding such a massive project.