Staff Reports
CHEERS
• GLOBE VISIT: It’s always good to see the governor stop by for a visit. Monday was no different as the David Paterson held a press event Monday at the recently reopened Globe Specialty Metals plant on Highland Avenue. He talked up the project — and the city’s roll in a push for renewable energy business in the state. It’s always good to see Albany officials taking notice of progress in the Falls. Now, if he could only get state lawmakers moving on this state deficit mess ...
• THANKSGIVING VOLUNTEERS: A whole lot of people in the Niagara area made Thursday’s holiday one a brighter one for those less fortunate. Whether it was at the annual Lord’s Day Dinner, over at the Hard Rock’s annual affair or any of the other holiday meals provided by area agencies this week, a special thanks goes to everyone that gave up their time, and in some cases, their holiday dinner to help those in need.
• ‘MOSES TALK’: As the city moves forward with plans to remove a portion of the Robert Moses Parkway, Mark Thomas, western district director for the regional State Parks, said his agency is behind the plan. He said the state park is supporting the city’s application for federal stimulus grant money that, if awarded, would fund the removal of the road from the park entrance to Findlay Drive. He also added a sobering dose of reality — the process, if approved, will take years and a lot of money. Speaking of the Robert Moses and things taking years ...
JEERS
• SOUTH PARKWAY ENTRANCE: Remember seeing renderings for the traffic loop at the John B. Daly Boulevard entrance to the south Robert Moses Parkway? Yeah, that was a while back. Don’t expect to see anything more than that anytime soon. A lack of funding also is holding up plans to reconfigure the south parkway’s entrance into the city and Niagara Falls State Park. The whole thing began more than two years ago. Last April, state park officials presented three different scenarios to the public on how to modify the parkway from John B. Daly Boulevard to the Rainbow Bridge. Mark Thomas said comments from that forum have been taken into account and the design process is moving forward. Like the north section, however, all of the needed funding isn’t in place to undergo any construction. The south reconfiguration is expected to cost about $15 million, but only $5 million has been budgeted, mainly for the scoping and design process. Thomas said another round of public meetings will be scheduled this spring. Hope you like things the way they are.
