BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - — Restoration may happen for residents by the Kensington Expressway neighborhood.
This comes after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced her support in connecting east and west neighborhoods.
“We need to reconnect neighborhoods that were suffered by asphalt highway in communities of color,” Hochul says.
The Restore Our Community Coalition president, Stephanie Geter, looks forward to Hochul’s word.
“Almost fifty years ago, there was a decision made to put a road in the middle of our community for reasons to that made no sense,” Geter says. “It was a huge form of social injustice when you cut a community in half.”
Geter explains how the traffic along the expressway impacted the health of many over the years.
“At least one person in every house along the Humboldt Expressway has died over the last 30 years,” she expresses. “Over respiratory disease associated with the fumes on the parkway because of the high volume of traffic.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Hochul says she wants to recreate the character of the former parkway, reconnect neighborhoods on either side of the 33 with nearby churches, MLK Park, and the Buffalo Museum of Science.
The longtime activist of the neighborhood hopes many would understand this act will help reverse the injustice.
“We hope people of all groups can see that we can make something magical happen to restore the community,” Geter says. “All human beings are worth not living next to something that’s toxic. It’ll be a good thing.”
