By Nicholas Miller
Last week I wrote about simple solutions that could improve Buffalo’s public transit system. This week, I would like to present a bold idea.
In my opinion, Buffalo’s Metro Rail is a mass transit success story. It has the NFTA’s highest ridership and represents a fifth of the NFTA’s total daily ridership. It is also fast and follows a direct route between several of the city’s major destinations. It is also the least subsidized and most cost-effect component of NFTA’s transit system and attracts a substantial share of discretionary riders (30%). I have spent a lot of time staring at maps of Buffalo trying to surmise at-grade right-of-ways for additional routes that could offer similar directness and speed. However, most routes either skirt neighborhoods (old freight lines, for instance) or do not seem wide enough for dedicated transit lanes and have frequent intersections (Genesee, for instance).
One day, it occurred to me that the Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways would offer fairly direct routes between many of Buffalo’s neighborhoods, the Airport, Downtown and Buffalo State. They could also have minimal intersections and would be wide enough for dedicated transit lanes. I envisioned converting these highways into something resembling Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland, with a light rail line running down a central park median, but I kept the idea to myself, thinking it was probably too ‘out there.’ However, in the comments for last week’s post about capping the Kensington, I saw that other people had the same idea (BurchJP, DeanerPPX). So, since I’m not the only person with this ‘crazy’ idea, here it is complete with renderings, maps and diagrams.
The project would consist of downgrading the Kensington and Scajaquada from highways into urban boulevards – not unlike Sheridan Drive, but hopefully with more trees. This would involve filling in the trench, recreating park medians and building a light rail line. I have provided a rendering of what this would look like at the intersection of E. Ferry and Humbolt Parkway. This option envisions two medians that would separate express and local traffic, but there are multiple configurations that could be considered. I’ve also provided illustrations of these choices.
This project would align with the goals of the Olmsted Conservancy to create a reinterpretation of the Humbolt Parkway. It would also allow the parkway to extend all the way to the foot of downtown, which some may consider an improvement over the original parkway. As the new boulevard approaches the airport, it could take on a more traditional highway configuration with additional lanes and a rail line running down the center. This arrangement is used on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago, which leads to O’Hare and was also used for Portland’s original light rail line.
Filling in the Kensington’s trench was estimated to cost around $100 million. A light rail like this (which is really more of a streetcar) may cost as little as $10 – $15 million per mile. This plan would add about 14 miles of track and may cost as little as $140 – $210 million. Estimates of what it would cost to cap the expressway range from $350 to $500 million and that does not include the cost of necessary maintenance needed on these highways.
In many ways, this idea may be more feasible and practical than maintaining these expressways as they are or pursuing capping them. For one, removing the trenches will save considerably on ongoing maintenance expenses. This project would also qualify for various federal grants – grants for light rail, grants for bike lanes, grants for projects that improve air quality, grants for historic landscapes, and grants for highway projects. Further, by combining all of these various projects into one, efficiencies can be accessed during construction and engineering that will allow the project to be cheaper than if the NFTA and State were to pursue separate light rail and highway projects. Lastly, bigger projects are often more politically feasible than smaller projects. They gain attention, they become talking points and they are resume builders for politicians. This is why it is often difficult to get cities to patch up roofs on abandoned houses or mow empty lots, but seemingly easy to get money for enormous silver-bullet projects like aquariums or convention centers.
This is a big dream, but a practial one. It would add tremendously to Buffalo’s light rail system, enhance the appeal of several neighborhoods, and improve mobility within the city. Many people may balk at the notion of Buffalo growing its light rail system or downgrading what they see as an important commuting thoroughfare. However, similarly sized cities like Salt Lake City have far larger light rail systems and a similar highway downgrade planned for Cleveland is estimated to only add 75 seconds to rush hour commutes. This project would also allow more choices for traveling to the airport and additional park and ride lots. More generally, projects like this leverage Buffalo’s best assets (historic homes, parks, cultural assets) so that it can compete with other cities for the best and brightest workers and entrepreneurs.
Nicholas Miller graduated from the Ohio State University with a B.A. in Urban Geography and Economics in 2010. He currently lives in Detroit with his partner where he works in the GIS field.