Message to Greenway: LaSalle Expressway must stay

by Susan Mikula Campbell
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, March 6, 2008

The Town of Wheatfield has gone on record that it will invoke its veto of the Niagara River Greenway Plan if there is any downgrading or reduction of lanes planned for the LaSalle Expressway.

At its workshop meeting Thursday, Feb. 28, the Town Board approved writing a letter to the state Department of Transportation and the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation reiterating the town’s position in favor of the expressway, which runs between the Grand Island Bridge and Williams Road. The motion by Councilman Arthur Palmer was seconded by Supervisor Timothy Demler.

The Greenway Plan would develop a greenway of interconnected parks, river access points and waterfront trails from Lake Erie to Youngstown.

One proposal in the planning stages would put a bike trail from Buffalo Avenue to 102nd Street in Niagara Falls and part of that discussion is downgrading the LaSalle Expressway, Palmer said.

“Everyone knows some sizeable plans are on the drawing board for Wheatfield in coming years,” said Palmer, noting these plans range from Niagara Falls International Airport development to an increase of business in the town, including at The Summit mall.

The expressway forms an important link to the town, he said. “You can bring people right down the expressway, drop them off at Williams Road, and they’ve got a four-lane highway that shoots straight to the (Niagara Falls) Boulevard.”

Demler said the Town Board wanted to go on the record early on the expressway matter. The town does have a statutory right as one of the 12 communities involved in Greenway to veto the plan.

“We will invoke it if we have to in order to protect the LaSalle Expressway,” he said. “We believe it has a true economic impact.”

Demler said he also supports the communities of Lewiston and Youngstown in their arguments to keep the Robert Moses Parkway open.

“It’s great to want to walk to Youngstown, but I want to be able to drive there, too,” he said.

Both Demler and Palmer said they support the Greenway Plan concept, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the communities. Wheatfield has a plan in the works to develop a waterfront park that would link to waterfront parks in the Tonawandas as part of the Greenway Plan.

•The Town Board will meet again on Monday, March 10, with two public hearings beginning at 7 p.m. on storage containers and unsightly fill.

The public hearing on a proposed local law on PODs is first up at 7 p.m. Demler described PODs as storage units that look like giant, white dumpsters. The board would like public input on where they should be allowed, what they should look like and how they should be regulated, he said.

At 7:15 p.m., potential local laws to address unsightly fill on property that has not yet been approved for subdivisions or other approvals will be discussed.

Demler said the town has no problem with owners putting fill on their property, but is against “unsightly, high mountains of dirt.”

“Even the town has one it’s getting rid of,” he pointed out.

That mound is in the area of future soccer fields at Jagow Road and Deborah Lane. The Highway and Recreation departments have been directed to remove the mound, he said.

The regular monthly meeting will follow the public hearings.

• In addition to the LaSalle Expressway resolution last week, the Town Board passed the final scoping document for the Villas at Sawyer Creek, including the comments brought forth by the public. It also accepted the completion of Phase I of the sanitary sewer project for Wheatfield Lakes patio homes, as long as added fill and grading were done over the trenches and proper fencing was in place along the back side of Lakeside Drive.