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WBEN Extra: Should the Skyway Come Down?



 With the Skyway as a backdrop, Congressman Brian Higgins renewed his call to tear down the hulking Route 5 bridge into downtown, saying the money saved in repairs could be used to build a new pedestrian friendly, aesthetically pleasing span that would link the inner and outer harbors of Buffalo's waterfront.

WBEN.com and Buffalo's Early News takes a look at the idea.

Exclusive WBEN Audio
Hear Cong. Higgins on The Liveline
Tuesday morning at 7:20

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) After Brian Higgins made his call to remove the Skyway, the state organization he sent a letter to and his election opponent both reacted.

"We did receive the letter from Congressman Higgins (Monday) morning," says Susan Surdej, spokesperson for the DOT. "The department is going to take a look at the letter and examine the points in his letter. We will respond to the letter at an appropriate time," but Surdej did not mention a timetable.

Michael Madigan is challenging Higgins in November. He says the Skyway bridge is fine. "Functionally obsolete because it doesn't have a shoulder? Doesn't that describe every bridge in New York?" contends Madigan. "It's not functionally obsolete, nor is it structurally obsolete. Structurally, there are issues, but he said structurally obsolete, not structurally non-integral."

Madigan says the bridge is not a priority. "There are a lot of issues, but this is not one of them," claims Madigan, who contends fighting crime, investing in education and filing already vacant office space take priority over the Skyway debate.

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Do you think the Skyway should be torn down?
Yes
( 67% )
No
( 33% )
 


Here's Higgins Letter to the NYS Dept. of Transportation


September 24, 2012
 
 
Hon. Joan McDonald
Commissioner
New York State Department of Transportation
50 Wolf Road
Albany, NY 12232
 
Re: The Buffalo Skyway
 
Dear Commissioner McDonald:
 
Spending more than $100 million dollars to rebuild the Buffalo Skyway over the next twenty years would be a transportation and land-use policy disaster.  It will cost far more to perpetuate an unsafe, functionally obsolete design which stifles Buffalo’s potential as a great waterfront city than it will to build better, more efficient infrastructure.  NYSDOT’s Skyway Management Study (October, 2008) indicated that it will cost approximately $117 million over the next twenty years to extend that structure’s life fifty years or more.[1]  This is vastly more expensive than the proposed Buffalo Harbor Bridge, which is estimated to cost approximately $75 million.[2]
 
We are drawing near to the point where this community will have to decide whether to maintain the Skyway, or replace it with something much better.  I write today specifically to request that before any effort is made to put expensive Skyway rehabilitation contracts on the state’s rolling five-year transportation investment plan, that the Department undertake an analysis of alternatives to the continued rehabilitation of the Skyway.  Such analysis should position this community to make smart decisions based on real choices, and should take into account the following considerations:
 
  • A number of initiatives already in development will increase the capacity of the transportation system between downtown and the communities to the South.  The planned improvements to Ohio Street (PIN 5760.26), the Buffalo Harbor Bridge (PIN 5758.17), and the Tifft Street Arterial (Part of PIN 5044.01) all enhance the potential for throughput.  The Buffalo Harbor Bridge is particularly interesting in this regard.  It would provide easy and immediate access from Downtown Buffalo to Buffalo’s Outer Harbor for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians the first time since 1964[3].  The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is soon to be published and it could be under construction within two years. 
     
  • Barry B. LaPatner’s book Too Big To Fail: America’s Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward drew particular attention to the danger posed by bridges which are both “Structurally Deficient” and “Fracture-Critical”.  Structurally Deficient means that “significant load carrying elements are found to be in poor or worse condition due to deterioration and/or damage [or] the bridge has inadequate load capacity.”[4]  “Fracture-Critical” means that the bridge was constructed without sufficient redundancy, meaning that “the failure of any one of its supporting structural members could result in the collapse of the whole bridge”[5]  The Skyway is the type of bridge about which LaPatner warns, as it is both structurally deficient and fracture-critical.  The Department’s own report on the condition of the state’s bridges, issued last month, listed the Skyway as structurally deficient.[6]  It is also listed on a national inventory of fracture-critical bridges which was provided to my office by the U.S. Department of Transportation last week. 
     
  • The analysis should not just review the engineering and construction costs of maintaining the status quo (as the Management Study did), but also the opportunity costs of keeping up this facility.  The Skyway dramatically depresses the value and the development potential of the land around it.  For example, the 27.5 acres on which a portion of the Skyway sits at the Outer Harbor contribute nothing to the property tax rolls.  A preliminary analysis indicates that if this land were developed with a density similar to Buffalo’s Waterfront Village at the Erie Basin Marina, the County, the City and its School district would realize $15.5 million in additional property tax receipts over twenty years (in 2012 dollars).[7] 
     
  • The Skyway was constructed at a time when Buffalo’s bustling port received twenty million tons of cargo annually via lake freighter[8], and the frequent raising of the City’s lift bridges were a source of frustration to drivers and pedestrians.  Now, Buffalo receives less than 2 million tons of cargo via lake freighter[9], and the city’s lift bridges are raised an average of 1.5 times per day.[10]  This makes the Skyway’s four mile long and 110 foot profile absolutely unnecessary and unjustifiable.
     
  • The Skyway’s design means that it will always be functionally obsolete and unsafe for motorists in distress because of its lack of shoulders.  The Skyway also makes no accommodation for pedestrians or bicylists.
 
Since the Skyway was constructed a lot has changed.  These changes include the understanding engineers and planners now have about the manner in which highways impact urban land use, the vastly reduced volume of lake-borne shipping in Buffalo, the increased appreciation for the value of pedestrian and bicycle accommodation, and modern engineering standards generally.  Given these changes, if we were going to design the ideal transportation infrastructure for Buffalo’s waterfront today, from scratch, there is no way we would design anything remotely resembling the Buffalo Skyway.  To invest several tens of millions of dollars to keep it up is to perpetuate failure.  Again, I urge the Department to undertake a robust and meaningful analysis of its alternatives.  I thank you for your leadership and your consideration.
 
Sincerely,
 
Brian Higgins
Member of Congress

Filed Under :  
Locations : Buffalo, New York
People : Brian Higgins, Michael Madigan, Susan Surdej
09/24/2012 5:42PM
DOT, Challenger Respond to Higgins' Skyway Removal Call
Please enter your comments below.
09/25/2012 6:11AM
Knock it down!
The skyway needs to come down. Totally agree with Higgins that it is folly to spend $100 mil to maintain this eyesore for the next 20 years. This should be a local issue as it effects US. Why do we have to beg the DOT on this - it should be put to a local vote. Concrete, bridge and road construction firms will fight to keep it around I'll bet. The waterfront is our best asset and we need to open it and transform it into publicly accessible parks and green-space.
09/25/2012 9:14AM
skyway
I totally agree with Mr. Higgins. It is time to knock it down the waterfront is just starting to get some life into it. Why would you want to keep such an eyesore up. The problem with this is nobody likes change unless it benefits them( politicians). This is the first politician who actually cares about our waterfront and wants it to be all it can be!
09/25/2012 9:44AM
WBEN listeners poll
At the moment, 35 percent of your Limbaugh believers want to keep the skyway. Either they advocate more wasteful government spending, or they're conditioned by some tribal mindset to automatically oppose anything any Democrat suggests. Maybe theylove the skyway's aesthetics and utility.
09/25/2012 10:12AM
"Tear down this Sky(way) WALL Mr. NYSDOT!"
"Tear down this Sky(way) WALL!" Mr. NYSDOT!" Besides being "a Pig in a Poke," the idea to throw/invest good money on a bad stock/maintaining the SKYWAY is a dumb vs SMART decision. Higgins letter is right on the money! Buffalo is long overdue for Smart Growth, development and, land use. I recall in the 50's when my family traveled to Lackawanna we used the bridge (Michigan St.?) near the Cheerio's plant and smelled the aroma of Cherrios baking as we rode by the plant. After the SKYWAY went up and right from the very beginning, traveling along & above the SKYWAY never seemed right; we were now disconnected from this travel route of neighborhood, the viewing of the boats along the waterfront road. WNY needs a return for more advocates of sound land use planning & zoning. SEE: the chronology / legacy of this example in the work done by" The Chauncy Hamlin 8 of yesteryear.
09/25/2012 12:20PM
Beautiful Drive
I live in Orchard Park and use the skyway to go downtown. It is just about the most beautiful urban entranceway imaginable for Buffalo. The view of Lake Erie and the Buffalo River along with the only possible aerial tour of the historic grain elevators is priceless. I am a strong fiscal conservative, and any bridge requires upkeep over the long term, right? If the reason for replacing the bridge with a shorter, wider span (Buffalo Harbor Bridge) is purely to save taxpayer dollars, then I think it's worth pursuing(and those of us that believe the skyway is a beautiful ride will have to suck it up). If the reason is to try and convince voters that the outer harbor will suddenly get an inflow of PRIVATE investment because a bridge is 30 feet wider and 70 feet shorter, then it's not worth it. This public debate about it is great though!
09/25/2012 1:56PM
Why now?
After just spending millions on a part of the Father Baker/Skyway complex do they now propose removing this portion? Shouldn't this have been part of a proposal for the complete renovation of this stretch of highway? Seems like they're a bit lacking when it comes to vision or real needs of the area. Then again, this IS western NY were stupid ideas flourish and good ideas come to die.
09/25/2012 2:24PM
To: WBEN listeners poll
Shows how little you know.... If this is a proposal that is going to be good for the community and create growth, ease access and be safer; no reasonable person would oppose it! Including Limbaugh listeners! It's narrow minded propaganda puppets as yourself that like to label others, all the while portraying yourself as the example of intelligence and tolerance -- get over yourself and you ignorant ideology! If this bridge is in need of replacement, which it likely should be due to its construction, then let's do the work to determine what will be the best solution at the most reasonable cost to taxpayers. Let's not portray it as some godsend that it going to be solely responsible for saving anything, like the city -- we heard that with the metrorail and what were the results of that? Let's just do what needs to be done -- and done correctly (think of the continually settling Father Baker sections). If it's a safety issue, and going to promote better access to and from the city, then let's figure out what's needed and get it done.
09/25/2012 10:57PM
Higgins trying to get attention
You can tell the election is drawing closer when Brian Higgins begins talking about the "straw dog" that is tearing down the Skyway and things of that ilk. Now, perhaps the Skyway does need to be removed someday, as long as the replacement moves traffic as expeditiously as the previous expanse. However, doesn't this fall under the purview of representatives to NYS government and not the Congress? Certainly as a citizen of Erie County he should have an opinion on this, but, the office he occupies holds sway over much grander issues than the local ones Higgins champions. And there is the rub. If voters were to examine his voting record on the "big" issues (excepting firearms) they may be less than impressed. Instead all people think of is "He's championing the waterfront". Well, he doesn't really have much to do with the waterfront. Right now, wouldn't it be cool if there was a gigantic Bass Pro where the crater that used to be the Aud is? That will never happen thanks in no small part to Higgins opening up this yap about that whole situation. Luckily for me, thanks to the recent redistricting, my vote for Congress won't be a wasted one as it has been in the past.
09/26/2012 1:28PM
Skyway = Peace Bridge
Why not just "study" the choices for 40 years like we are doing with the peace bridge. Western New York deserves better leadership than the last 50 years of democratic rule and screwy ideas perpetuated by locked in place demagogues
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