This past Tuesday, Buffalo’s Common Council passed a resolution stating that the NYS Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has fallen short with its plan for the Scajaquada Expressway, Route 198. The resolution, passed with an ‘eight to one’ vote in favor of additional traffic calming measures, points to concerns by numerous organizations and community groups have not been addressed. The measure calls for the DOT to “halt their current plans and begin the process of designing a new plan that properly reflects the goal of restoring the historic Frederick Law Olmstead (sic) parkland and creating a cultural corridor that will bring economic, social, and quality of life improvements to the City of Buffalo.”

Councilman Feroleto voted “nay” on the resolution, saying that he needs more time to study everything. “The plan was filed with the council after we started, at 2:00 p.m., typically items need to be filed 5 days prior so we have adequate time to review them.” Seeing that his district is significantly impacted by the DOT’s ill-conceived plan, due to the location of Delaware Park, Councilman Ferleto said, “this is way too important of an issue to vote on with out having read the plan or having heard formally from Olmstead about their plan.”

Lead image – DOT