If Buffalo's Skyway were to fall tomorrow, no one would cry.
Well, maybe if anyone were on the bridge when it fell, but there really aren't that many people who really use it.
Destroying the Skyway would get rid of an eyesore, expedite Buffalo waterfront development and probably save taxpayers millions. Most people who live and work in the city already want it gone - including current Mayor Byron Brown - and it's underutilized anyway.
Who would miss it? No one, that's who.
On Friday, Congressman Brian Higgins brought former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist to Buffalo to discuss the Skyway. This is not the first time Norquist has been to Buffalo - the Buffalo Skyway is among the last of a breed Norquist and his group, the Congress for New Urbanism, are aiming to exterminate: dinosaur construction projects that are barriers to city development. Buffalo's skyway, along with similar structures in Chicago and Seattle are the top three urban structural barriers, according to the group, and with Buffalo's current economic stagnation, our skyway might be the most damaging.
Norquist spearheaded the replacement of a similar skyway in his home city, opening up $300 million in developable land. Now Milwaukee - long a peer of Rust Belt cities - can be considered a model of urban renewal, with its downtown area becoming a cultural and economic hub once again.
The same situation could be projected in Buffalo - the acres upon acres of land that stretch from Buffalo's Outer Harbor through Lackawanna to the old Bethlehem Steel plant is prime development for the city. Right now there is almost no development, and what is located over there is struggling - The Pier party house has a prime location right on the water and has played host to events like big regattas and the Irish festival. Unfortunately, the place has been in and out of business because it is such a pain for anyone living north of Church Street to get there because the Skyway limits navigation to that area.
Earlier in March, Buffalo Rising posted sketches of the master plan for the Erie Canal Harbor Project waterfront development project - a projected $1.4 million project. The sketches were cool, with stores, museums and park space, but unfortunately the Skyway was still there marring a great vision. How much better would the project look with a lift bridge and roadways that go across the river to the historical lighthouse and Coast Guard stations on the shores of the Outer Harbor?
The problem is the Skyway could end up being an even bigger impediment to the project if its fate isn't decided soon - the Bass Pro supercenter so much of the area's development relies on is constantly on tenuous ground until the city can officially decide on how the area will be utilized.
Aside from being an eyesore, the Skyway is expensive to maintain - at over 50 years old, it needs even more regular maintenance and it needs a new paint job every 10 years at $15 million per job. Brian Higgins estimated the bridge cost $22 million to maintain from 2004-2005. That's too much money for a stretch of road barely a mile long.
It's also dangerous - the Buffalo Police Department responded to over 1,200 calls on the Skyway, with 167 that resulted in injury and death, making it one of the most dangerous strips of road in the area. With icy conditions in the winter and high winds all the time, anyone who has driven on the 200-foot-high skyway knows it's a harrowing experience. The accidents also raise the number of times the roadway has been closed, making it an even less reliable route.
Aside from a group of people whose travel route takes them from the Southtowns to the southern tip of downtown, it's not really the easiest way to get to the best of downtown, nor is it the safest. Last year notwithstanding, the skyway closes regularly due to both wind and icy conditions - in fact, it's the only New York State bridge with an automated closure system.
It's time this eyesore and economic barrier was closed for good.
