Long-awaited plans for the Buffalo Skyway were revealed to the public yesterday.

The winning plan would turn the Skyway connecting downtown with the South-towns into an elevated park offering views of Lake Erie and the Buffalo waterfront.

“City of Lights” was chosen as the first-place winner out of 16 finalists, with the designer getting $100,000.

Several people at Canalside said they’re open to the idea.

“I sort of like the one where you ride your bikes up or a bike path,” said Hamburg resident Dave Boswell. “Or a walkway up to overlook the water and everything, I think it would be very nice.”

“The design is nice,” John Walker said. “I like the way that it looks.”

The plan calls for removing ramps on either side of the existing Skyway bridge and allowing the bridge deck to become “Skyway Park”, offering panoramic views for pedestrians and cyclists.

 

Drivers that currently use the Skyway would be given alternatives including a reestablished South Michigan Avenue bridge, a new road near Terminals A and B that would intersect with Ohio Street, and the Tifft Street Extension crossing the Buffalo River to Elk Street.

The project could cost up to $600 million with the state and the federal government picking up most of the tab.

(WIVB-TV)

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