BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Removing, altering, or keeping Buffalo's Skyway has been one of the area's most popular debates these days.
There are many who want to keep the 110-foot tall, 1.4-mile long bridge which connects Downtown Buffalo to the Southtowns. A Facebook group called "Skyway Club" already has more than 2,000 members in it.
"It is organizing," Rachelle Schneekloth, who founded the group in January, said Wednesday on WBEN's BMaz and Beamer. "We have events planned and lawn signs that have been created by members. We are contacting (Congressman Brian) Higgins and (Governor Andrew) Cuomo and other elected officials. It's becoming a very organized group and it's completely grassroots. This is all through word-of-mouth."
There are certainly those who are in favor of taking down the Skyway for reasons that include additional space at Canalside, noise concerns, and because Buffalo is not a city with dense traffic. However, the push to remove the Skyway does not have the grassroots support compared to groups who want to keep the Skyway up. Much of the emphasis on removing the Skyway has been promoted by Higgins and Cuomo.
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"When you have an unsafe roadway that's deemed to be by engineers that study these things, I think we need to look at alternatives," Higgins told WBEN. "This will reach its final life at some point and you'll have a choice now. You can either continue to invest in the structure you have and some people are supportive of that. I understand that and respect it. And you'll have alternatives."
New York's Department of Transportation is ready to break ground on a Skyway removal project but are awaiting federal funding.
One group that is supportive of removing the Skyway is the Congress for New Urbanism, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that champions "walkable places" according to Benjamin Crowther, the program manager for CNU Highways to Boulevards initiative.
"We looked at the Skyway in the past as well as other highways in Buffalo," Crowther said. "Part of the imperitive...with thinking about the Skyway is that it's at the end of its life span and something needs to be done with it in the coming years. It's important to think about taking it down at this moment because if the investment is made to rebuild it, you're stuck with that investment for another 50 or 60 years."
Crowther said it's not CNU's goal to be a leader in any initiative to remove the Skyway, saying that decision should be locally based.
"We don't have an agenda in pushing for it to come down," Crowther said. "We do see some opportunities for Buffalo should the people of Buffalo want to take those up, particularly around reconnecting the city to its waterfront."
CNU is also supportive of measures to remove the Scajaquada and Kensington Expressways.
Proposals for removing the Skyway include the "City of Lights" which would convert the Skyway bridge into a linear park that allows pedestrians from Canalside to the Outer Harbor. There have been several other proposed changes to it but nothing has been agreed on.
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"This will be a public process that will play itself out and those who oppose it will be heard," Higgins said. "The draft environment impact study process is ongoing right now. It includes what's called a no-bill, in other words, leave it the way it is. Then there's two alternatives. Right now, we don't have any alternatives, which is why you see $30-$40 million being invested into the Skyway because there's no alternative to it."
CNU said they want to stay involved in providing design guidance for NYSDOT when ideas are proposed. Crowther said he hopes the DOT will incorporate multiple modes of transportation that leverages Buffalo's Waterfront.