Mayor Richard F. Soluri of the Village of Lewiston will officially leave his office after 15 1/2 years of distinguished and dedicated service at midnight on 10/31/09. He has advised the Parkway Preservation Committee that he will continue his efforts for a reconfigured and sceneic parkway with great diligence.

Mayor Soluri recently submitted the following statements to the Niagara River Greenway concerning an environmental proposal by an organization called "The Wild Ones"

"As a former and original member of the Niagara River Greenway Commission, I offer a challenge to several of the statements of "The Wild Ones" submission to the Greenway Board.

The following quotes were published in the Robert Moses Parkway Pilot Project Evaluation Report on 12/22/03 by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the New York Sate Department of Transportation.

Several previous historic and contemporary plans have addressed the issue of roadway configuration along the gorge. These previous plans provided additional criteria and goals for the implementation of the various Niagara Gorge Improvement Projects.

1. 1926 Olmstead Brothers Plan (Historic Plan)

In a planning report to the commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara submitted by Fredrick Law Olmstead Jr., he recommended "...to secure such lands and rights in land as will enable your commission (a) to ensure a protective frame or border along the margin of the gorge sufficient to screen any conspicuous and inharmonious neighboring objects and conditions and prevent their intrusion into the landscape of the gorge, and (b) to provide a convenient means of access for the public of scenic interest near the brink of the gorge and within it, including and agreeable route or routes for passenger automobiles extending continuously from the Riverway at Prospect Park to Lewiston."

2. 1985 Report on the Conceptual Redesign of the Robert Moses Parkway for the Proposed Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (Nussbaumer & Clarke Plan)

This plan recommended reconfiguring and retaining a continuous roadway along the gorge rim corridor. It also recommended improving access between the city and the gorge, converting portions of the parkway to pedestrian and bicycle use, reducing lanes from four to two in some areas, reducing speed limits and providing improved overlooks and gorge trails.

3. 1992 NIAGARA WATERFRONT MASTER PLAN (Sasaki Plan)

This plan also recommended reconfiguring and/or relocating various portions of the Parkway while retaining a continuous roadway along the gorge rim corridor. The overall intent of this master plan was..." to focus attention upon the economic and recreational potential of the Niagara Gorge." Several of the specific recommendations of this plan have recently been constructed as part of the NYSOPRHP's "Vision Plan" to revitalize and restore the Niagara Gorge. These included converting the Schoellkopf Museum to the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, providing improved public access to the gorge and upgrading trails and overlooks.

This proposal by the "Wild Ones" is another ploy to remove the north Robert Moses Parkway. Commissioners, please consider that we have had in excess of 25 million dollars of investment through Federal and State Grants and private investment in the Lower River Region in the past ten years.

Why not have State Parks and the Department of Interior reviewed these projects?

We can have it all with a beautiful two lane Parkway from the Falls to Lewiston with access, trails, picnic areas, lookouts and a most picturesque drive along the Gorge. The Lower Niagara River Parkway will be enjoyed by visitors and residents and including the physically challenged. Soluri advocated that the Robert Moses Parkway be renamed Upper Niagara River Parkway from the Grand Island Bridge and the Lower Niagara River Parkway from the City of Niagara Falls to the Village of Lewiston. He further recommends that the National Park Service designate our Parkway as a National Parkway.

The United Sates has more than 8 million miles of roadway, but only four roads, totaling just over 1,000 miles are designated as national parkways. The Blue Ridge Parkway, the Natchez Trace Parkway, the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway and the George Washington Memorial Parkway are designed to promote an appreciation of scenery among motorists who tour these transportation treasure.

The National Park service in 1938 established eight specific characteristics that distinguish parkways from other roadways. These criteria center on an immersion in natural beauty and the desire for travelers to enjoy a recreational experience apart from commercial develpement.

Like siblings, within a prestigious family, these parkways share common characteristics, but each demonstrates its own personality"

Mayor Richard Soluri - October 29, 2009

PARKWAY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE FORMED TO ADVOCATE KEEPING THE ROBERT MOSES PARKWAY OPEN
“Closure will have serious negative impacts on the entire region”

LEWISTON, NEW YORK – October 10, 2006 – Business, community, civic and tourism officials from throughout the Niagara region today announced the creation of the Parkway Preservation Committee. The Committee was formed to advocate keeping open the Robert Moses Parkway from Niagara Falls to Youngstown.

“There is simply no alternative for closing the Parkway without significant negative social, economic and environmental impacts occurring from Niagara Falls to Youngstown and all points in between,” Thomas Kraus, President and CEO of the Niagara USA Chamber of Commerce said. “The Parkway should provide residents and visitors to our region access to our natural resources and not a barrier to them as some in the community are advocating.”

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is currently evaluating a pilot project in which the Robert Moses Parkway was closed from four lanes to two lanes. There have been three previous plans addressing the roadway configuration of the Parkway along the gorge.

All three plans recommended some type of roadway to run contiguously along the gorge, including a 1926 planning report to the commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara submitted by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. in which Olmsted recommended “to prove a convenient means of access for the public to places of scenic interest near the brink of the gorge and within it, including an agreeable route or routes for passenger automobiles extending continuously from the Riverway at Prospect Park to Lewiston” (Source: Robert Moses Parkway Pilot Project Evaluation Report – NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the New York State Department of Transportation, December 2003).

“We believe that once the community is informed of the negative economic and social impacts of closing the Parkway that the consensus will be to keep it open,” Lewiston Mayor and Committee Co-Chair Richard Soluri said. “The reason we formed this Committee is to create a dialogue with the community about these negative consequences.”

The Committee also is adamantly opposed to a proposal being floated by advocates that want to close the Parkway and replace it by using Lewiston Road as an alternative transportation route. Lewiston Road encompasses hundreds of homes and thousands of residents as well as the Maple Avenue School in the DeVeaux section of Niagara Falls.

“Lewiston Road is not an acceptable alternative because it will jeopardize the safety of residents and school children as well as the quality of life of this neighborhood,” said Committee member and Niagara Falls resident Christopher Brown. “The Parkway is a safe and reliable transportation route and the state should instead focus efforts on investing in the Parkway to not only enhance its viability as a major roadway but also as a tourist attraction.”

“We are confident that a redesigned Parkway can create economic development opportunities for Niagara Falls while maintaining the positive economic impacts provided to the entire region through the continued growth of communities that comprise the lower Niagara River region,” Sandy Hays-Mies, President, Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce and Committee Co-Chair said. “At the same time, this Parkway can enhance the quality of life of our region through the incorporation of a design that would include walking and bike trails, picnic areas and scenic outlooks among other upgrades and improvements.”

Contacts:
Earl Wells/Laura Taczak
E-3 Communications
716-854-8182