Congressman Brian Higgins is calling on the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) to amend the General Project Plan (GPP) for Canalside to immediately transfer a minimum of $15 million currently proposed for parking structures to instead be used on development of parks and public improvement projects along the Outer Harbor. In a drastic turn of events in waterfront planning efforts, Congressman Higgins also recently came out against ECHDC’s draft master plan for the outer harbor.
“The NYPA settlement gave us finite funds and a once in 50-year opportunity to remake Western New York’s waterfront,” said Congressman Higgins. “We must choose carefully the highest and best use of limited resources. Parking lots pay for themselves so why not refocus these public funds to several new projects that enhance the overall public experience along our waterfront?”
In 2005 Higgins secured a $279 million hydropower relicensing settlement from the New York Power Authority (NYPA), which is funding the vast majority of the work at Canalside. Higgins was the catalyst in the creation of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC), which is directing Buffalo’s waterfront improvement efforts. He was also the driving force behind the remaking of Route 5 along the outer harbor that kept it as an elevated expressway rather than a parkway.
In a letter to the Chairman of ECHDC, Higgins points out that over $19.1 million in NYPA settlement funding is set aside in the GPP for parking structures. Higgins is not opposed to plans that incorporate additional parking at Canalside but argues that parking is self-financing and therefore should be paid for with parking revenue not NYPA funds.
In 2009, ECHDC unveiled plans for a multi-story, mixed-use parking garage to be erected at the Marine Drive parking lot (entry image). The elevated garage was to include 1,200 parking spaces (two-thirds covered), with free spots for Marine Drive tenants and the mixed-use exterior facing Canalside and the inner harbor. The project ran into opposition from Marine Drive tenants worried about air quality and loss of views and was shelved.
Since 2008 Higgins helped to secure over $52.23 million in federal funding for projects exclusively along the Outer Harbor including: reconstruction of Fuhrmann Blvd into the Outer Harbor Parkway, Union Ship Canal Promenade, Gallagher Beach Pavilion, U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse access and improvement project, Times Beach boardwalk and trail, Tifft & Lake Kirsty Piers and the Industrial Heritage trail.