Access & Infrastructure

Access: The Planning Department at Buffalo Place
manages the implementation of Downtown access
projects through the Access Infrastructure Task
Force. This multi-agency task force including the
NFTA, City of Buffalo, BCAR, GBNRTC, BNMC,
ECIDA, and interested Downtown advocates
continues to meet monthly to work towards
completion of an agreed upon work plan. Access
Task Force members have evaluated and prioritized
the tasks remaining from the Destination Downtown
Buffalo 2002 report and new access projects
identified in the Queen City Hub plan. Buffalo Place
initiatives on the task list include:

Pedestrian Improvements at High Volume NYS Highway Streets: The Queen City Hub planning process identified the problem pedestrians have crossing busy NYSDOT highway streets Elm, Oak, Tupper and Goodell and how these streets have become barriers between Downtown and nearby residential areas. A committee including representatives from nearby businesses, the City of Buffalo, BNMC, GBNRTC, ECIDA and NYSDOT identified the specific issues on these streets and outlined a process to develop recommendations to be submitted to NYSDOT for consideration.

Two-Way Streets: The Planning Department continues to act as a liaison for communication between the City of Buffalo, property owners and building tenants during the conversion of one-way streets to two-way traffic. New two-way streets have made Downtown more user friendly for businesses and visitors while improving security by increasing the number of cars and eyes on the street. In 2004 Washington Street between Goodell and N. Division became two-way. Next, the northern portions of Ellicott and Washington between Downtown and the BNMC will be converted and feasibility work will start to consider if Pearl, the 700 block of Main Street and Goodell should be changed to two-way.

Urban Design: Urban Design has become one of the priority action areas of the Queen City Hub, with the development of a work plan, prioritizing action items and conducting preliminary research. The Operations Committee of Buffalo Place has adopted this topic. A subcommittee has been established to work on creating Urban Design Guidelines for Downtown, in particular to support the 700 block of Main Street as a residential focus area.