BUFFALO, N.Y. — Several states of emergency are in place for a winter storm that hit the area this weekend, and other measures are also being taken to keep people safe and keep drivers off the roads.
On Wednesday, the City of Buffalo said the travel ban will be lifted at 12:01 a.m. Thursday and replaced with a travel advisory.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Erie County portion of the 190 and state routes 5, 33 - which is the Kensington Expressway, and the 198 will fully reopen at midnight.
The State Department of Transportation and thruway authority will continue to help with snow removal throughout Erie County.
On Tuesday morning, some major highways in Western New York were reopened.
The Thruway, U.S. 219, U.S. 400, I-290 and the I-990 reopened.
Still closed is New York 33, Route 5 from Big Tree Road to I-190, I-190 from the I-290 to I-90, and New York 198.
On Tuesday morning, Erie County officials confirmed the travel ban will remain in effect for only Buffalo. The ban was for all other municipalities, a travel advisory will be in effect for those areas.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said on Wednesday that he did not expect the travel ban to be lifted for Buffalo that day. The goal was to have one lane of traffic cleared in Buffalo by 9 a.m. Thursday.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced on Wednesday that the goal for the city is to opened on Thursday.
NITTEC also announced the Peace Bridge has reopened to traffic coming to the U.S.
On Monday, the City of Buffalo said that alternate side parking will not be enforced.
Select NFTA bus routes are now in operation and Metro Rail will have trains running every 30 minutes.
Additionally, alternate side parking has been suspended in Cheektowaga for the rest of the week. The town will also release a spreadsheet with information about where vehicles that have been towed have been taken.
Also on Sunday, the Town of Tonawanda issued an emergency order at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022, banning all on-street parking in the town effective Tuesday, Dec. 27, at 6 a.m., until further notice.
The Niagara County Sheriff's Office said a travel advisory is in effect for the whole county as well as in the City of Lockport, the City of Niagara Falls, and the City of North Tonawanda.
The Genesee County manager said Sunday that all roads are now open. The travel advisory for the county was dropped on Monday at 2 p.m.
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