Buffalo: Banishing the highway for open space

Since it was constructed in the 1960s, the Scajaquada Expressway has sliced through Buffalo's Delaware Park, the crown jewel in a celebrated park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The state highway, Route 198, replaced two tree-lined streets and was contested from the start. In addition to destroying Olmsted's vision for the hourglass-shaped park, it segregated surrounding neighborhoods, especially communities of color. Then, in 2015, a vehicle traveling westbound on the highway killed a 3-year-old boy. The Department of Transportation responded with a plan to reduce speed limits and build medians, but the community roundly rejected it as simply not enough to counter 198's deleterious effects. Now momentum and consensus are building behind a plan to eliminate the highway altogether--a move that other US cities have completed or considered. The Scajaquada Corridor Coalition is leading the call for removal, backed by renderings for the highway's reenvisioning by CannonDesign's Buffalo office.