BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The East Side Parkways Coalition continues to put pressure on the New York State Department of Transportation's $1 billion Kensington Expressway project.
Monica Miles was one of many who attended the community forum at the Delavan Grider Community Center on Friday.
She tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person that the project will make the environmental living conditions much worse for people living along Humboldt Parkway.
"So black and brown people are going to die at an accelerated rate, which is already what we’re seeing in certain zip codes," said Miles. "We're talking about the best interest of the individuals and residents that live on the East Side of Buffalo. It's not to have a pass-through tunnel. It's to reconnect the city.
Terrance Robinson, a homeowner who lives along the 33, says he doesn’t see a positive outcome with this project.
"They want to put in a control tunnel 15ft away from my house, blasting for four years back and forth," he said. "You're going to tell me there's no short-term or long-term environmental impact?"
The East Side Parkways Coalition says they're pursuing all avenues to put more pressure on the DOT.
"There is a lawsuit that was filed to put a pause on the project," said Morgan Baker, a researcher at East Side Parkways Coalition. "We're also working on several different legal avenues to pursue."
Sean Sweeny, a transportation engineer in Buffalo, says he has confronted the DOT about the project.
"The volume to capacity analysis. I've asked the DOT personally when they are going to release that data," said Sweeney. "They told me they will release it in the final report, which feels a bit late and too close to shovels in the ground."
In a statement, the DOT said:
"The Department of Transportation has been working on a project along the Kensington Expressway for nearly 15 years and talk of a transportation solution has been going on for over three decades. What we have presented to the public is 100 percent based on community engagement and we continue to listen to feedback from the community. Governor Hochul, the State Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration have backed this project with $1 billion, and there won’t be a better opportunity to move this project forward than right now.
Final background:
NYSDOT received 1310 comments during the formal comment period for the Environmental Assessment from September 12 – November 10, 2023. However, 90 additional comments are contained within the appendix of the Environment Assessment that were received previous from our public information meeting held in June through the beginning of the formal comment period in September.
All comments received since the public meeting held in June to the end of the comment period on November 10, which total more than 1400, will be included in the final Environmental Assessment document. All comments received during the comment period, as well as input from the dozens of community engagement events, are considered as the project moves forward under the NEPA process.
Ms. Ingram is the liaison between DOT and the local community and is paid by LaBella, which is contracted as a consultant for the Kensington Expressway project and not a state employee. DOT is looking into the matter but we can say unequivocally that neither DOT nor LaBella directed pre-filled forms to be distributed at any meeting."
Miles says the work of the East Side Parkways Coalition gives people hope.
“Although they're not the face of the movement, they use their skills and talents to demonstrate that the community is against this project and the data was loud and clear," she said.
