Parkway reimagined

Almost a decade from now, if everything goes right, the horrible planning decision that resulted in the Robert Moses Parkway dividing Niagara Falls and Lewiston from the Niagara River will be a distant memory.

What that distant memory looks like was the topic of a Tuesday meeting at the Niagara Falls Train Station. The meeting was a follow up on one from earlier this year at which 6 separate plans were discussed.

Tuesday the choices were down to A and B. The primary difference appeared to be how connected DeVeaux car traffic would be to a proposed new park road. Option A gives straight connections for cars like Vanderbilt and James. Option B would create only a walking/bikepath connection.

The existing Niagara Scenic Parkway has two-way traffic in its Western lanes. The Eastern Lanes are a path dedicated to walking/biking. A separate hiking/walking path is along the gorge edge.

Original plans from earlier this year included an option for total removal of car traffic from the park. This was eliminated because access is required for Border Patrol, Homeland Security and park maintenance according to Western Region State Parks Director Mark Mistretta.

Plan A and B contain roundabouts at the intersection of Lewiston Road, Hyde Park Boulevard and Devils Hole as well as just before Lewiston. The Lewiston roundabout would link the park road with Route 104 as well as Portage Road and Irving Drive.

At present, on nights when there are big concert crowds, traffic exits onto Center Street before continuing to Route 104, Niagara Scenic Parkway and the 190.

The preliminary design appears to move that bottleneck a few blocks away from the core of the village.

The project extends from Whirlpool State Park to Center Street. Removal of parkway north of Center Street is not yet a current consideration Mistretta said.

About 30 meetings have been held so far on the removal with representatives from State Parks, the Federal Highway Administration, New York Power Authority, the City of Niagara Falls and the Village and Town of Lewiston.

Added parking is in several parts of the plan including near the Vanderbilt stairs, at Devils Hole and adjacent to the Fort Gray overlook. Both current lots at Devils Hole are regularly full. During peak fishing season, a half-dozen vehicle park on the north side of Vanderilt just before the Parkway.

Concurrently with the parkway removal, NYPA will be replacing its three bridges over its dam at the Robert Moses Power Project.

The lower portion of the dam in the new design will dedicated to maintenance and emergency access. The lower path is currently divided between bikepath and emergency/maintenance road. In both plans, the middle bridge is designed as a multimodal path while the bridge carrying Route 104 will be divided on the east from a second bike path.

The design challenge, an employee of Colliers Engineering and Design (formerly Bergmann) said is that the dams are not at the same level. The path closer to Route 104 would be easier to access from Niagara University. The next bike path would be lower.