The Community Wants Your Input On Kensington Expressway Project

As the days go on and planning related to what should be done with a section of the Kensington Expressway continues, the number of people who disapprove of the project continues to grow. While the date the project will actually begin is still to be determined, one thing that is for sure is that there are people in the community who want to make sure your voice is heard.

With the project price tag hovering around $1 billion in taxpayers' money, it doesn't seem unreasonable that residents living near Humboldt Parkway seek to ensure all necessary due diligence is done.

What Is The Kensington Expressway Project?

In case you're not entirely in the know about what's being proposed, the New York State Department of Transportation, with the support of the Federal Highway Administration, has a plan to reconstruct a section of New York State Route 33, which runs through the city of Buffalo, the stretch of route in question is colloquially known as the Kensington Expressway.

Built in 1958, the Kensington Expressway project would cost taxpayers around $1 billion to build, and it would add a tunnel cap to the highway, running approximately 1 mile. The covering would attempt to restore a part of the original Humboldt Parkway.

The purpose of the Project is to reconnect the community surrounding the defined transportation corridor and improve the compatibility of the corridor with the adjacent land uses, while addressing the geometric, infrastructure, and multi-modal needs within the corridor in its current location. The transportation corridor is defined as NYS Route 33 (Kensington Expressway) and Humboldt Parkway between Best Street and Sidney Street.
-New York State Department of Transportation

Restore The Humboldt Parkway Community Town Hall

To help spread the word and increase community knowledge about the project, the East Side Collaborative Partnership is hosting a town hall on Friday, February 9, 2024, from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm at the Frank E. Merriweather Branch Library on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo to discuss the project and give members of the community the chance to speak with public officials about their concerns.

Given that this project will impact the community for at least the next half-century, the need for this town hall community meeting seems pretty clear.

The East Side Collaborative Partnership is a collaboration between several community and neighborhood groups, including the East Side Parkways Coalition, We are Women Warriors, The Western New York Peace Center, Jes Breathe Cancer Awareness Group, Covington Associations Consulting, Stop the Violence Coalition, the Harriet Tubman Celebration Committee, along with several local block clubs from around the neighborhood.