BUFFALO, N.Y. — As plans to revive the DL&W Terminal move forward, work is underway to build a stair tower to give people access to its upper floors.
There is a bike lane on South Park Avenue where the stair tower would be built. The paint outlining it on the street is fading, but Buffalo Common Councilmembers brought up concerns on Tuesday that the bike path could potentially go away when construction picks up. They are trying to prevent that from happening.
"I was wondering if that's going to be part of the plan because I didn't see it in this rendering," said Buffalo Common Councilmember Joel Feroleto.
The NFTA presented drawings of what the new stair tower at the DL&W Terminal could end up looking like at Tuesday's Community Development Committee meeting at Buffalo City Hall.
The proposal includes a 32 by-95-foot easement on South Park to allow room for it to be built.
Right now, plans include removing the bike lane in the street, and the NFTA said more construction could potentially happen to bring that bike lane inside the terminal.
Common Council members want to make sure the area remains accessible for everyone, including people riding their bikes.
"Not only do we have visual barriers currently existing, but we also have really harsh cobblestones that don't accommodate for bicycle safety and for pedestrians as well, so we have to be able to smooth that out to actually effectively move pedestrians and cyclists from Cobblestone all the way to Canalside," said Buffalo Common Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski.
Common Councilmembers want to make sure cyclists can still get to and from Canalside easily from every neighborhood.
"What we're going to do moving forward is hone in on these development projects and plans to really make sure that they're not just nice proposals, but that they're actually functional for people," said Mitch Nowakowski.
Common Councilmember Nowakowski says the next step is for him to meet with the NFTA to try to work this out to keep this space accessible for everyone
"Really, when we're talking about square footage, to be able to cut off cyclists is a big thing, so I'm sure that with plans and revisions, we'll be able to bring it all together," said Mitch Nowakowski.