BUFFALO, N.Y. — For the second month in a row, the NYSDOT has canceled a stakeholders meeting that focuses on the $1B Kensington Expressway project.
Multiple sources that were invited to the meeting have confirmed the cancelation, and the DOT cited the ongoing legal battle between state DOT and several organizations and residents.
In a copy of the notice obtained 2 On Your Side, the DOT said "We are cancelling the November stakeholder meeting. Once we have the court’s decision, we plan on meeting to discuss the path forward."
However the DOT hosted a meeting about the Kensington Expressway project with the Buffalo Niagara Partnership on Monday at the Seneca One tower.
Several attendees of that meeting told 2 On Your Side that DOT officials focused the meeting on how traffic into downtown would be impacted by the four and a half year construction of the $1B cap and tunnel between Best St. and Sidney St.
During a court proceeding on October 25, attorney's for the groups who filed the lawsuit against the DOT highlighted that according to the departments own study of the project, traffic will be backed up for several miles during the construction process.
Lawyers for the DOT refuted that claim, however Judge Emilio Colaiacovo said it didn't seem possible that traffic wouldn't be impacted by several years of construction.
At that hearing, Judge Colaiacovo extended a temporary restraining order that is preventing construction for the project from beginning.
2 On Your Side has asked NYSDOT spokesperson for comment multiple times regarding this story and for comment on the recent extension of the temporary restraining order.
A spokesperson eventually responded with the following:
“The New York State Department of Transportation has postponed the monthly Kensington Expressway stakeholder meetings as we await a change in the temporary restraining order issued by the Erie County Supreme Court, which suspends all construction activities. In the meantime, NYSDOT will continue to give informational presentations about the overall project at community events, as we have done dozens of times and as we recently did, by invitation, at the Buffalo Niagara Partnership.”