BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Judge granted a temporary injunction Wednesday that puts the $1 billion Kensington Expressway Project on hold, at least for a couple of weeks.
"The court today ruled in our favor and in the neighborhood's favor and in Buffalo's favor in granting a temporary injunction against the Kensington Expressway project," said Michael Gainer from the Eastside Parkways Coalition. "It means that until our case is heard in court later this month there will be no work done on this project."
The case is due back in court on October 25.
The project was announced in May 2022 and includes fully covering a portion of the expressway and making it a six-lane tunnel between Dodge and Sidney streets.
Gainer said there are several lawsuits against the project and claimed there wasn't an adequate and thorough and rigorous environmental review.
7 News has previously spoken to Terrence Robinson and Marcia Ladiana. The couple lives along Humboldt Parkway and filed a lawsuit to block the project.
“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,” Robinson previously told 7 News. “All we want New York State to do is to follow the law in the process.”
The New York State Department of Transportation released the following statement in response to Gainer's claims:
"The Kensington Expressway project's environmental process adhered to all applicable state and federal laws. We continue to look forward to advancing this project to reconnect a community that was divided generations ago."
New York Governor Kathy Hochul was in Buffalo in February to announce that the Federal Highway Administration issued a “Finding of No Significant Impact,” that signaled the end of the formal environmental assessment process that began in June 2022.
