Let’s Talk About It: Humboldt Parkway and the Kensington 33!
by Betty Jean Grant
Betty Jean Grant
This writer posted the information about the next Town Hall meeting regarding the future of the Humboldt Parkway initiative at the top of this article for those who don’t read complete articles will not miss the date. This meeting will not be the next meeting to discuss Humboldt Parkway & the Kensington 33 because the NYSDOT has scheduled a Listening Tour meeting at the Amherst Community Center on James Audubon Drive, Thursday, February 5th, 5-7 PM. Unfortunately, the listening tours do not allow the participants to comment verbally. Those who attend these meetings have to use post it notes to write their comments and then place them on one of several chart boards.
This will be a meeting with the community to give them an opportunity to weigh in and to have dialogue with the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and their partners who are active participants in the Queen City Forward initiative. The East Side Parkways Coalition wishes to give the concerned citizens of WNY an opportunity to speak at a forum where their concerns and active participation will be recorded and presented to the NYSDOT. This town hall is needed for them to consider adding the verbal and written comments to the information they will be gathering as they begin to develop the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that has by called for by a sitting, state supreme court judge.
According to information presented at the meeting in Cheektowaga on January 22nd, the EIS is scheduled to be completed in three years, or by winter, 2028. The community information gathering and engagement will be completed by the end of this year while the scoping, drafting and final portions of the EIS will be completed by the final two years, concluding in 2028.
For those of you who are wondering what happened to the movement to construct a tunnel or to fill in and completely restore the expressway; everything was taken off the table when it was discovered that nothing could go forward until an EIS was completed. Several months ago, Governor Kathy Hochul asked for a ‘Reset’ and, according to NYSDOT, assured the residents of Humboldt Parkway and the community overall that all ten options, including full restoration and the tunnel, will be considered.