BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) announced it will not appeal a judge's ruling to halt the Kensington Expressway project.
In February, a judge ruled that New York State cannot move forward with plans to cover a portion of the 33 with a tunnel to restore the top as a parkway without a full environmental impact study.
"We are not going to appeal. We are going to go through a new EIS," Assembly Speaker Crystal Peoples-Stokes said.
The DOT said it would work with the community to hear what East Side neighbors would like to see. The state said the goal is to "reconnect neighborhoods," but the state DOT said it is not walking away from it and will look to the community to enhance the future of transportation in the city.
Meanwhile, the East Side Collaborative Partnership is calling on the state to keep the environmental study on track. Leaders on the East Side said the study needs to move quickly, and the state needs to keep East Side residents informed.
Members stood together Friday, calling on the state DOT to move forward with an environmental impact statement for the Kensington Expressway project as ordered by the court, so the project won't be delayed.
"And the one thing that we're not going to do is give up," Richard Cummings, president of Black Chamber of Commerce of WNY & Restore Our Community Coalition (ROCC) said.
The following is the full statement from NYSDOT Region 5 Director Eric Meka:
“The New York State Department of Transportation remains committed to a project along the Kensington Expressway that will improve the quality of life and advance transportation and economic opportunities for those living and working in East Buffalo and the city proper. NYSDOT, working with and listening to the community over many years, put forward a thoughtful project to reconnect the community in and around the Kensington Expressway. That project was challenged in court and continuing any legal action would only lead to further delays. We have decided not to appeal the decision and instead use this time to reignite our public engagement efforts. To be clear, we are not walking away from a major transportation project in Buffalo and remain committed to the goal of reconnecting this community. In the coming weeks and months, NYSDOT will begin new engagements with the community, laying the foundation for strong infrastructure investments that advance the transportation network across Buffalo. As we honor and respect the many individual voices – including the collective voice of Restore Our Community Coalition - that have advocated for change along the Kensington Expressway, the Department of Transportation will continue to look to the community as we work together to enhance the transportation future for the City of Buffalo and all its residents.”
The East Side leaders include the NAACP, Restore Our Community Coalition (ROCC), Urban Think Tank (UTT), and clergy, elected leadership and labor unions. They said they are delivering a "clear message" that this project must move forward with urgency, integrity and respect for decades of advocacy and community planning.
"We need to reconnect this community – that's what these dollars are for," Ellen Harris-Harvey, president of Trinidad Neighborhood Block Club, said.
The group is outraged by the East Side Parkways Coalition, which filed a lawsuit against their project.
"Listen, I'm looking forward to going through that tunnel," Rev. Blue said. "I'm looking forward to not having snow in my way."
But for more than 30 years, the Restore Our Community Coalition, known as ROCC, fought for the project to renew the community divided by a highway.
"Now that an EIS is required, we must make sure it doesn't become a tool to derail the project," Sydney Brown, spokesperson for ROCC, said. "This process must remain focused on the current project—restoring Humboldt Parkway and reconnecting our community. Any effort to broaden the scope beyond what the judge ordered is a delay tactic that our community cannot afford."
"There'd be shovels in the ground if back in 2009, if the DOT had planned and facilitated an environmental impact statement then," Michael Gainer, member of East Side Parkways Coalition, said. "They did not do that – that's not our fault."
Gainer, a Buffalo mayoral candidate, denies the group is trying to hurt the entire project.
"We intervened because of the neighbors, because of the communities and because of the long-term vision," he said. "We have for the City of Buffalo."
Assembly Speaker Peoples-Stokes says Governor Hochul has assured her the $1 billion the state has promised will still be provided for the project, and believes the environmental study could take two years.
Other elected city leaders were also on hand for Friday's event, including Buffalo Common Council Masten District lawmaker Zeneta Everhart and County Majority leader and Ellicott District Councilwoman Leah Halton-Pope.
"It is my duty to stand strong for them and to stay committed to their vision," Everhart said.
"My people – this community that didn't have a voice at the table when you put this expressway in the first place should not be ignored now," Halton-Pope said.
The state DOT says in the coming weeks and months, it will be meeting with the community.
The leaders outlined the following three guiding principles for the EIS process:
1. Stay Focused – Align strictly with the judge's directive; no expanded scope
2. Move Quickly – Begin and complete the EIS with urgency
3. Center Equity – Ensure East Side residents remain at the core of the process and outcomes
Governor Kathy Hochul was asked about the project last week at the new Buffalo Bills stadium.
"It's disappointing – that when we bring the resource to do something that the community has wanted a long time and Crystal Peoples-Stokes, and I decided, my first year as governor, that we'd finally heal a community that was severed by this highway since the 1960's and right the wrongs of the past and then to have people thwart us in court and stymie this," she said. "So this is what happens too often."
Hochul told reporters she would need to take time with her attorneys to "analyze what our next steps are." Then, late Thursday, word came from the DOT that it would not appeal.
