Category Archives: News

Emerald Shiner TLC

We recently learned that the Army Corps of Engineers will be initiating a project on Broderick Park that will slow the velocity of the current along the sea wall on the southern edge of the island. This will make it possible for the bitty fish, Emerald Shiners, to be more sustainable. Another benefit will be the reinforcement and repair for much of that seawall that has been deteriorating and causing erosion on the island. Baffles will be installed as seen in the illustration. Work will begin this summer and plans are for completion by the end of 2021.

For more information about Emerald Shiners, check out Buffalo State’s webpage.

Army Corps Engineer Timothy Noon:

The Emerald Shiner Passage Structure Demonstration Project seeks to improve habitat connectivity for the Emerald Shiner between the Niagara River and Lake Erie, adjacent to Broderick Park in the City of Buffalo. This project is being undertaken in partnership with the US EPA as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The Emerald Shiner plays a critical role in the Lake Erie food web, and the fish and bird populations that depend on them. The Niagara River velocity currently causes a barrier to the Emerald Shiner, however this project seeks to demonstrate innovative technology to allow for fish passage into Lake Erie. The intent is to help restore fish and wildlife populations in the Niagara River and Lake Erie, while sustaining and improving the unique features of our local environment, and more specifically Broderick Park.

Broderick the Beautiful (with help)!

We’ve been collaborating with lots of partners to Brush Up Broderick Park. Can you spare a little time on Saturday, April 24? We’ll be there beginning at 10:00 am, weeding and spreading mulch. It’s looking so good and we want to make it shine for the summer season! Covid has shown how essential this park is to our community. Please help us make it better than ever!

Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper Shoreline Sweep includes Broderick Park as part of their clean up on May 1st. If you missed signing up for that, join us on April 24th!

Remember: masks and safe distancing is still necessary! Contact us at: info@visionniagara.org if you have questions!

By the way, Friends of Broderick Park has plans for summer events, including Food Trucks! Stay tuned.

Public Art on Niagara Street

Because of the 1% for public art policy in Buffalo, the Niagara Street reconstruction project includes some funding for public art. We’re very excited that the Buffalo Arts Commission selected Shasti Soudant for this project. She is an eminent, local artist who has created amazing sculptures and art installations around the country. Ms Soudant designed a series titled Flora and Fauna for Niagara Street. The designs will be cut from steel, attached to the light poles and will face the bike lane. The image above represents one of at least six different sequences. Each sequence will be a different color. Over 90 light poles will be part of the project.

There are a number of aspects about this proposal we find thoughtful and exciting. Within the limited scope of the project, the artist has put together a subtle yet expansive answer to the RFP. The images depicted represent arrival, new beginnings, growth, taking root and other associations symbolic of our corridor. They will offer a bit of animation and color as one traverses the corridor by foot, bike or vehicle.

Broderick Park Town Hall

Public art at Broderick Park – a huge investment by the City of Buffalo! What kind of art? What themes? The Buffalo Arts Commission has been collecting data about what the park means to residents and visitors through surveys. Highlights include the importance of history to the community, significance of nature and educational aspects of the park. The Virtual Town Hall is a great opportunity to know a bit about that data and offer your own ideas and questions.

Tuesday, February 16 @ 6:00 pm.

Press release info linked here.

Funding for Broderick Park

Mayor Byron Brown announced the inclusion of funding for Broderick Park in a press conference on November 12th. We’re delighted that the capital budget will include a public art initiative over $400,000. Friends of Broderick Park (FOBP) has a public art committee that has been working with the Buffalo Arts Commission on this and other public art possibilities for the park. We will have more information about that soon!

In addition, the capital budget will include much needed safety fencing for Broderick Park. FOBP has been advocating for this and other safety features needed at the beautiful park. Visitors to the park may have noticed (especially those trying to keep youngsters safe) that much erosion has occurred around the fence along the river, so much so that a child could easily roll under and be swept away. The Army Corps of Engineers has been studying the erosion for years….many years. We’re happy that the city has stepped up to take care of this issue since the Army Corps will probably not resolve this for years to come.

In the photo above, George Johnson (FOBP’s fearless leader) is offering comments at the press conference. Vision Niagara is an active member of FOBP, as is Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Buffalo United Front and other organizations

As Far As You Can See…

Construction on Niagara Street seems endless. Phase 3 was scheduled to finish up this year but delays have changed that timetable. Changeorders (including replacing the water line for several blocks) have gummed things up a bit. We scratch our heads when we see the entire section of Phase 3 from Busti to Forest blocked off but only a few blocks are actually being worked on. And how about the Jesse Kregal section? Don’t get us started! That should have been completed months ago!

Some of the poles for the new traffic lights are installed on the Phase 3 section. Paving is promised from Busti to Breckenridge this year. Sigh.

But good news: Phase 4a (Forest to Hertel) has been fully funded. So the project marches on…bit by bit.

Meeting Up @ Broderick Park

Vision Niagara has coordinated clean-ups in Broderick Park for several years, beginning with a big spring event. Covid put a damper on that but not anymore! We’re teaming up with Friends of Broderick Park (FOBP) on Saturday mornings from 10am to noon. Everyone is welcome. We’ve been weeding, cutting grass, and cleaning up. The park looks great! And we have plans for more! Watch for an art even this July highlighting the history of the Underground Railroad.

Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper helps out -a member of FOBP!

George Johnson on the Right, Buffalo United Front – also a member of FOBP

Niagara Street Construction Moves Ahead!

Check this out! Future bike lanes with a four foot buffer on Niagara Street!

Happy to report that construction is steaming ahead despite the Covid crisis. General contractor, CATCO, submitted the required safety plan and we’re seeing remarkable progress. They are working on the southern section (Busti to Albany) of Phase 3 and then will jump to Forest Avenue and work south while water line issues are getting resolved in the middle section.

Lots of curbing getting installed this past week for the buffer lane and sidewalk.

CATCO is working mightily to complete this section of the project (Busti Ave to Forest Ave) by the end of 2020. Kudos to CATCO, Watts Engineering, Buffalo Sewer Authority and City of Buffalo for keeping this ambitious project going.

No word, yet, on status of Phase 4a which goes north of Niagara Street but we’ll update when we find out!

Project Workscope for Scajaquada Community

Scajaquada Corridor vision courtesy of Black Rock Riverside Alliance and Scajaquada Corridor Coalition

We’ve been following the progress of Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC) plans since it was announced by NY State that they would be the lead agency for the planning process. We hoped to have a presentation by Hal Morse, ED of GBNRTC, at our April VN meeting. Our meeting, however, was scotched due to you-know-what.

We learned that it will be an 18 month process aimed at a project that “will strengthen … community assets to create a safe, healthy and prosperous city and region for all needs.” From what we understand, this will be for the entire length of Rte. 198 and the section of Rte. 33 from 198 to downtown Buffalo.

GBNRTC is in the initial phase of the process, identifying and engaging stakeholders, community leaders, officials and experts. Multimodal assets will be identified, objectives and performance metrics will be documented. GBNRTC plans to engage a panel of national experts for counsel on potential options. Then this is where it gets interesting:

Based on all the input, GBNRTC will “assemble specific transportation access actions to achieve the stated objectives.”

“These will include options in all modes and specific to the study area as well as potential alterations outside the corridor.

Testing of the proposed set of actions in transportation simulation models..

Final set of improvement options will be subsequently prepared.”

Vision Niagara is actively working with Scajaquada Corridor Coalition to develop designs on how we can reconnect our communities and restore historic landscapes, as well as make way for development opportunities which have been strangled by highways. Our goal is to present this vision to GBNRTC, other stakeholders and the community at large in the near future. Stay tuned!

Quotes are from GBNRTC document Region Central – Approach to Project Workscope for Scajaquada Community Forward Study.

2020 & Beyond!

It was a cold January evening but a warm gathering and Happy Hour at CBW for our first meeting of the year. We recapped 2019 and introduced projects for 2020.

Thanks to all who participated and connected! We were happy to meet architects who are working on WEDI’s project on Niagara Street, future home of the popular West Side Bazaar. We also had updates on the Niagara Street construction project, and input about a park we envision at 1318 Niagara Street. More on that to come. We introduced events for 2020 including this year’s Jane’s Walk.

March 4 @ 4:00 pm will be our next get-together. We’ll be at a smaller venue so give a shout out if you’d like to join us!

info@VisionNiagara.org