Return of Vehicular Traffic to Main Street

This City of Buffalo project is being managed by the Public Works Department. The design team is led by DiDonato Associates, who were also the lead consultants for preliminary engineering. Team members include Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects and Parsons Brinckerhoff Engineers. Many of the design elements used in this block will be familiar to visitors of the 700 Block of Main Street, including: sandstone exposed aggregate concrete sidewalks, the planter layout, plant materials, benches, trash receptacles and bike racks.

Final Design kicked off in October 2010. 70% Design was made available for public review in January 2011. 90% Design was completed in March 2011, based on the preferences indicated by 600 Block contacts and downtown advocates. The City plans to put the 600 Block project out to bid with construction anticipated in Fall 2011. Initial plans are for construction to start in the northern part of the block between Tupper Street and the portal in 2011, and the southern part of the block between the portal and Chippewa Street will be built in 2012. Construction will be limited to one side of the street at a time, and pedestrian access will be maintained to all buildings through out the construction period.

90% Design Plans

The City of Buffalo Public Works Department presented 90% Design to 600 Block property and tenant representatives on March 16th, 2011. Alternatives selected during the 70% Design review were discussed, and a few additional choices were made at the meeting. Click Here to look at 90% Design plans.

70% Design Drawings

The City of Buffalo Public Works Department presented 70% Design on January 12, 2010. City engineers requested opinions on several alternatives and were open to comments until February 4, 2011.  Click Here to look at the Design drawings.

Funding for this project comes from the 2005 SAFETEA-LU federal transportation authorization bill and includes local matches provided by the City of Buffalo, NFTA and a New York State Transportation Enhancement Program grant.

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700 Block
The 700 Block of Main Street reopened as a two-way street in July 2009, following construction on the east side during the Spring of 2009 and the west side the previous Fall.  Design elements first seen in the 700 block will be used for the length of Main Street, including street furniture, pavement and curb planters.

The 700 Block of Main Street is a “Complete Street” including bicycle lanes that will eventually link to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus in the north and the Erie Canal Harbor in the South.  The bike lanes will continue south on Main Street in the 600 Block and will connect to future bike lanes on Pearl Street via a shared lane on Chippewa.  Pearl Street bike lanes will be installed when Pearl is converted into a two-way street and will link the Theatre District to the existing bike path network at the Erie Canal Harbor.

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Environmental Review - Under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) was the lead agency for the federal environmental review process which started in 2004, under the local leadership of the NFTA.  Following many years of work and draft environmental assessment reports, the FTA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in October 2009, clearing the way for use of federal and state funding for final design and construction.  The Final City of Buffalo Main Street Multi-Modal Access And Revitalization Project Environmental Assessment Report can be viewed at
http://www.nfta.com/pdfs/COBMulti-Modal%20Access.pdf.

The FONSI issued by FTA on October 5th 2009, Environmental Assessment report appendices and public comments can be found at http://www.nfta.com/mainst.asp.

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Preliminary Design
The City of Buffalo awarded a contract to DiDonato Associates in 2005 for Preliminary Engineering Design work for returning automobile traffic to Main Street.  NFTA and Buffalo Place worked with the City as project sponsors.  DiDonato Associates, located in the 600 block of Main Street, created a consultant team including: Foit-Albert Associates, from the 700 block of Main Street, URS Corporation, also located in Downtown Buffalo and Mathews Nielsen, a landscape architecture firm with several years of experience on the Erie Canal Harbor project.  The ten month project identified how automobiles will be integrated onto Main Street between Edward/Goodell and HSBC Arena.

The Preliminary Engineering Design phase included the design and location of the Metro Rail stations, design of attractive pedestrian-scale streetscape, how traffic signals and curb parking spaces will be incorporated and coordinate with developments on lower Main Street. The consultants collected base information, completed an engineering survey, designed a computerized traffic model to forecast vehicle and Metro Rail car behavior, and developed concepts for redesigned Metro Rail Stations and the streetscape. Final design of the first phase of construction, the Theatre District, will start in the summer of 2010.

The Preliminary Engineering Report can be viewed at the City of Buffalo website at http://www.city-buffalo.com/files/1_2_1/carsonmain/final_design_report_prelim_design.pdf. 
An animated video clip showing automobile and Metro Rail traffic sharing Main Steet can be viewed at http://www.city-buffalo.com/files/images/videos/3d_Model_Main.wmv.

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Capital Funding
The New York State legislature approved an $8 million appropriation for Main Street construction in 2006.  This funding will become available for final design and construction following completion of the 2010-2011 New York State budget process.

Buffalo Place would especially like to thank Congressman Brian Higgins for securing $4 million and Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer for contributing an additional $2 million in Transportation funds - SAFETEA-LU.  Over the next few years, the Western New York community will have to work together with our State and Federal officials to obtain funding to complete construction of Main Street south of Chippewa Street.

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Environmental Review Under New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)
The environmental review of the Main Street Multi-Modal Access and Revitalization Project under SEQRA was completed in early 2003 by the lead agency, the City of Buffalo Department of Public Works.  Buffalo Place participated as a project sponsor with the City of Buffalo, NFTA, Erie County, NYSDOT and the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Committee (GBNRTC).  A preferred alternative was selected following the previous year of detailed consideration of alternatives and their impacts on the economic and environmental health of Downtown.  The Downtown community was involved through numerous public meetings, web postings, email status reports and review by Downtown advocacy organizations. Buffalo Place was involved with outreach to property and tenant contacts as well as Downtown community advocates.

The preferred alternative is for vehicular traffic to share the trainway with Metro Rail.  Sufficient sidewalk width (20-26’) remains to retain the landscaping, benches and amenities that make Main Street a “Pedestrian Street” but the scale can be reduced to a more comfortable level.  Two lanes of vehicular traffic, narrowed Metro Rail stations and 150 curb parking spaces will add vitality during those off-peak hours that now appear desolate due to excessively wide sidewalks.  ERM Associates, the Environmental Review consultant, determined significant economic benefit from increased accessibility and visibility of Main Street properties.

The City of Buffalo, as the lead agency for the State Environmental Review Process, made the official determination of “No Significant Impact.”  A four-year implementation schedule developed with preliminary engineering design for the length of the transit mall to be done in the first year, followed by three phases of construction, per available funding.  One of the major conclusions is that each construction phase must be completed during one construction season so that businesses are not unnecessarily impacted.

Current work on Returning Vehicular Traffic to Main Street is the final engineering design between Tupper and Chippewa Streets.  The goal is for construction to follow in 2011 along with final design of the next construction phase. Buffalo Place will inform our constituents of the status of the project; request advocacy for funding when needed and work to communicate design and construction issues.

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Queen City Hub Plan

In 2005, the American Planning Association (APA) awarded The Queen City Hub: A Regional Action Plan for Downtown Buffalo the Outstanding Planning Award for a Plan. APA is a nonprofit public interest and research organization committed to urban, suburban, regional and rural planning. The award is the highest honor a plan can receive from this prestigious association of professional planners.

The winning of the “Outstanding Planning Award” by the Queen City Hub is just the latest in a string of positive developments occurring in Downtown Buffalo. New residential development has been completed or is continuing at The Belesario, The Sidway Apartments, Ellicott Lofts, IS Lofts, Granite Works, The Lofts at Elk Terminal, Holling Place Apartments and the Pierce Building. The upscale Washington Market has opened and new construction projects are underway or have been announced with the expansion of Erie Community College and the $100 million headquarters for HealthNow New York. Public concerts and events continue to draw huge crowds and national attention, including the ever popular Thursday at the Square Concert Series and Taste of Buffalo. Work is progressing on the Erie Canal Harbor Project. During this decade Downtown will enjoy $1 Billion in new investment, with $400 million already completed or under construction. We look forward to helping to spur more positive development in 2007 and working together with all of our partners to produce a more vibrant, prosperous and vital Downtown Buffalo.

The action plan provides discrete recommendations within nine topic areas. These nine areas are organized into activities and the principles that guide those activities. The activities for Downtown are living, working, shopping, and visiting. The principles that will guide the activities are access, urban design and management, preservation, energy and green design and image. Support for The Queen City Hub implementation has come from the private sector, state and local government and the academic community. This important and innovative plan will guide Downtown for many years to come. The Board of Directors and staff of Buffalo Place Inc. would like to take this opportunity to thank and recognize our partners the City of Buffalo and the Urban Design Project of the University at Buffalo for their hard work and commitment to Downtown Buffalo. To download a version of the Queen City Hub Plan, click here for Volume One and click here for Volume Two. For a Queen City Hub Summary click here for Poster1 and click here for Poster 2.

What’s in a Plan? A Plan is more than just ideas and words. It’s a course of action, based on quantifiable research, that is the crucial first step in spurring development and creating long term, substantial growth. Without a plan, there can be no coordinated development. The Queen City Hub Plan was a collaborative effort and included the input and participation of dozens of public and private sector constituents in our Implementation Council and literally thousands of citizens and stakeholders in plan development and review. With the publicity and recognition that follow the awarding of the industry’s leading planning award, the dream for a new Buffalo is one step closer to becoming a reality.

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

On & Off Street Parking

On-Street Parking: Throughout the past six years, Buffalo Place has worked to reprice meters and change parking regulations to make better use of curb parking in Downtown.

Buffalo Place provided a staff person to work directly with the City Division of Traffic Engineering to repeal and install new parking meter regulations. To date, 530 Downtown meters have been installed or repriced with appropriate signage to reflect the changes on street and 1,100 more will be completed soon. The Division of Parking Enforcement continues to change prices at the curb and install new meters where possible. The plan calls for creation of some 500 all day meters and free parking in areas that do not attract short-term parkers. Short-term rates priced at $0.50 and $1.00 an hour are distributed based on parking demand throughout Downtown.

Off-Street Parking: As part of our ongoing mission to improve access, Buffalo Place created and maintains a comprehensive database of commercial and non-commercial parking facilities. Collected data includes lot ownership, number of spaces, price, peak hour occupancy and contact information. This information is used to inform Downtown users of the location, price and convenience of parking options. CLICK HERE to access our Downtown Publicly Available Parking Map