Efforts to come up with a plan for Buffalo's Scajaquada Corridor have stalled in the years since a tragic accident killed a 3-year-old boy in Delaware Park. That 2015 incident, in which a vehicle veered off the road and into the park's ring road, led to the speed limit on the 198 being reduced from 50 to 30 mph and the installation of additional barriers.
Over the last few years, numerous ideas has been proposed, and rejected, for Route 198 along the park. The process of developing a new vision of the road has now been restarted by the state Department of Transportation.
The new collaborative planning process will now be led by the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council. The council will begin by establishing a steering committee of community stakeholders. That process will involve community leaders, elected officials, transportation experts and the public.
“The Scajaquada Corridor is significant in the Buffalo-Niagara Region and this new study will help define how to strengthen its assets to make the entire region even more vibrant and prosperous,” DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said, in a statement. “We look forward to working with the community on a transformational vision, identifying the multimodal transportation access and mobility solutions that can best support it now and into the future.”
In the statement, the DOT said a clear consensus has not emerged on the future of the Scajaquada to the point where projects could proceed and there is a need to reset the discussion.
