BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — There is a growing chorus of voices saying they don't want the state’s Kensington Expressway Project to move forward on Buffalo’s east side.
Last Friday Governor Kathy Hochul came to the Queen City to announce that construction is expected to begin by this fall.
But some Humboldt Parkway residents are fighting the project and filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop a tunnel from being built along a section of the 33 Expressway. They were in court Wednesday for a hearing.
“They cannot huff and puff and blow my house down without me saying ‘nay’,” declared Terrence Robinson, Humboldt Parkway resident.
Terrence Robinson and Marcia Ladiana appeared briefly before State Supreme Court Judge Daniel Furlong in Buffalo Wednesday morning regarding this lawsuit they filed against the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSOT).
The state attorney general's office is seeking a motion to dismiss.
The couple lives along Humboldt Parkway and wants to block the $1 billion project that would cover a portion of the expressway with a six-lane tunnel.
“Because what they're proposing is an enormous amount of harm to every person in the city. This is not a black issue. It’s not a right issue. It's not left. It's not suburbs against the city. This is a people issue. It's the City of Buffalo and I love my city,” Robinson teared up.
This couple is crying foul saying the DOT has failed to conduct a proper environmental impact study and wants the state to follow the law.
“If you can put a billion-dollar facility in the middle of a residential neighborhood, take five years to construct it, and all of the things that are involved with that and claim that there are no short-term or long-term environmental impacts, then you've nullified environmental protections in the State of New York,” remarked Robinson. “All we want New York State to do is to follow the law in the process.”
"We're also concerned about all the pollution and traffic and noise that's going to occur during the four or five years of construction,” commented Marcia Ladiana, Humboldt Parkway resident.
But the state insists the mission of the Kensington project is to right a wrong. A beautiful parkway was removed for a highway decades ago which many say caused a harmful racial divide.
Last Friday, the woman who is the new chair of Restore Our Community Coalition said she's hearing from many who want this project.
“I’m hearing elation. I’m hearing hope. I’m hearing progress. I’m hearing forward thinking. I’m hearing positively. I’m hearing unity. I’m hearing community,” Sydney Brown stated.
The judge has asked the state to reply by March 1 and both sides will be back in court to argue this issue on March 7.
