Higgins applauds discussion about Skyway's future

Congressman Brian Higgins released the following statement concerning today's discussion hosted by state leaders about the future of the Buffalo Skyway. While Higgins is in Washington, D.C., for votes, his office participated in today's roundtable conversation. 

"We are at a critical point in time when decisions related to the Buffalo Skyway today will affect this community for generations to come. Waterfront progress, once never imagined to happen in our lifetime, today is reaching too many projects to count. The investments made at Canalside, along the Buffalo River and around the outer harbor are creating an economic multiplier effect reverberating throughout the city and beyond. Yet, the Skyway literally and figuratively hangs over more than 27 acres of prime waterfront property creating a roadblock to limitless opportunity. I commend state and local leaders for engaging in this dialogue on the Skyway's future and look forward to learning the results of the state DOT's plausibility review."

Higgins has long advocated for the removal of the Skyway. He points out that the DOT's own Skyway management study pegs the cost of maintaining the structure for another 50 years at upwards of $117 million. In a September 2012 letter to the state Department of Transportation commissioner, Higgins urged a study of alternatives to the Skyway saying "spending more than $100 million to rebuild the Buffalo Skyway over the next 20 years would be a transportation and land-use policy disaster."

That study is currently underway.