NIAGARA FALLS — More than 50 years ago, the Robert Moses Parkway served as a modern arterial shuttling motorists along the Niagara River offering sweeping views of the gorge rim and a direct road to the brink of the American Falls.

It was built in a time when Niagara Falls was bustling, small villages and towns to the north were growing and residents desired direct routes to all points in between.

However, in the years since a mounting charge has been led calling for change of the once iconic by-way — and now people are listening.

New York State Parks has declared itself the lead agency and has hired the Parsons Group to do a study of the parkway and explore the costs and environmental impact of removing it — or at least a section of it.

However, Mark Thomas, Western District director of the state parks, said the scoping process comes with a price tag of $800,000 and admitted there is no money on hand to move past this phase.

“The scoping phase is a critical first step,” Thomas said. “It is also a crucial step that must be completed prior to us (seeking) additional funds.”

Business groups in Niagara Falls have argued the parkway does little to stimulate business in the Cataract City, funneling visitors coming into the city from the interstate to the south along the Niagara River and directly into Niagara Falls State Park. While those heading north toward Lewiston and Youngstown miss out on the Pine Avenue and Main Street business districts in exchange for taking the most expeditious route.

On the other hand, environmentalists have argued the parkway has destroyed native plant species and wildlife habitat, especially along the gorge rim. Along this portion of the road, the former four-lane highway was converted to just two lanes, with the remaining two lanes reserved for hikers and pedestrian access. This portion, from Main Street to Findlay Drive has been rumored as the most likely portion to be removed, if funding is ever made available.

There’s also those that want to see the parkway removed in its entirety. Niagara Heritage Partnership members say such a move would improve access to the lower rapids and vistas along the gorge rim.

Bob Baxter, conservation chairman of the partnership, said there is no is no evidence the parkway is necessary for the economic well-being of Lewiston or any other northern town and total removal would create a greenspace that would attract tourists and locals to the gorge rim.

“The restoration of the gorge rim without parkway lanes would create natural landscapes unique in all the world, an organic extension of what is already a world-known attraction, with hiking and bicycling trails, with regional economic and environmental benefits for the generations that follow,” Baxter said.

Political support

In order for any funding to be secured for anything to be done, local representatives, both in Albany and Washington, would likely be required to lobby to earn the region competitive grants or funding from the Department of Transportation.

State Sen. George Maziarz, R- Newfane, said he is “100 percent” in favor of keeping the parkway open calling it a “key link” between Niagara Falls and points north. However, like many in Lewiston and Youngstown, he does support a partial closure of the section of the roadway between Findlay Drive and Main Street.

“I would support the partial closure of the parkway. The mayor (Paul Dyster) is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into a high-speed rail station, but I believe using that money to redesigning the parkway would provide immediate results,” Maziarz said referring to the $16.5 million grant the city received from the Department of Transportation’s competitive TIGER grant program.

Assemblyman-elect John Ceretto agrees in support of retaining the parkway, but believes it should become a more scenic road, similar to the 36-mile Niagara Parkway that extends from Fort Erie, Ont. to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

“It is a slow accessible road to the communities, something that is pleasing to the eye, where people could stop off and see the beauty of the park,” he said.

Ceretto said he would support and lobby for funding a project that included the removal of a portion of the parkway along the gorge rim, similar to what Maziarz said he would support.

Niagara Falls interests

Drastic changes to the parkway, particularly in the section between Main Street and Findlay Avenue, is something Dyster said is a realistic and supported route for stakeholders to take.

The mayor said it is his belief the scoping process for the area being looked at currently is too broad and it would be difficult to come up with a plan that would be accepted by residents of Lewiston, Youngstown and Niagara Falls.

“There are too many different interests, too many different ideas and we feel the scoping process is reaching too far,” Dyster said.

U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer have asked for an appropriation of $52 million in federal transportation dollars to be set aside for the “non controversial” section of that parkway, which Dyster described as a portion on the southern section of the Moses Parkway near the Niagara Reservation state park and a portion on the northern section along the lower rapids.

Dyster, like Maziarz and Ceretto, said he envisions and supports, the total removal of the parkway from Main Street to Findlay Drive and turning the area into greenspace complete with hiking and biking trails.

He said this would create an area that both improved access to the gorge rim and created a scenic, inviting trail system connecting visitors from the downtown area to Whirlpool and Devils Hole State Parks.

It’s not going to make everyone happy, though.

Mike Parsnick, the spokesperson for a grassroots organization of neighbors known as Preserve DeVeaux said his organization opposes any plans that would call for or suggest increased traffic along Lewiston Road, which slices through the normally quiet neighborhood.

“Removal to the city line is not an option for us,” he said. “The total traffic that would be coming from the northtowns to the downtown area and vice versa particularly during the tourist season would be too much for our community.”

Other groups have often suggested the removal in certain sections would increase property values and would send visitors into the city’s business districts.

Ernie Lucantonio, president of the Pine Avenue Business Association, said his position is simple: To increase the potential for tourists to come to Pine Avenue and spend their money there.

“We support a partial removal that would funnel visitors out of the state park and onto Main Street or Pine Avenue,” he said. “We want to get these visitors into the Como or Michael’s, we want them at the City Market or DiCamillo’s.”

Northern interests

As the Robert Moses Parkway meanders it’s way along the Niagara River and then down the escarpment into Lewiston and Youngstown, many key attractions and communities rely on the parkway for both tourism and commuter traffic.

Robert Emerson, executive director of the Old Fort Niagara Association, called the road “key” to the future and lasting success of the historic fort, as many of the 80,000 visitors who visit the Youngstown attraction rely on the parkway.

“It’s easy and it’s seamless,” Emerson said of the parkway. “I think (total) removal would seriously diminish our visitation.”

Emerson said the fort’s annual regional economic impact is about $6.4 million.

Other attractions and events such as the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours, the Fatima Shrine and festivals in the Village of Lewiston which attract more than 100,000 visitors annually, depend on the parkway to bring visitors in.

Officials at Artpark, which attracted more than 300,000 people this past summer with free Tuesday and Wednesday night concerts and other performances have staunchly opposed parkway removal in total but Artpark & Company President George Osborne said he would support a different configuration of the road.

“It’s a very important artery for us not as much for people coming to our venue, but for when people are leaving,” said Osborne of the 10,000 guest who attend the parks Tuesday in Park concerts. “I think they must keep the parkway in some configuration. It doesn’t need to be a four-lane highway, but not having any kind of road connecting Artpark to Niagara Falls would be a serious mistake.”

The Lower River Region Chamber of Commerce also holds a similar position.

“I think there are all kinds of different philosophies about what people want to see done with the Robert Moses Parkway,” Dyster said. “I know Sen. Maziarz may be in philosophical terms on a different playing field than I may be on, but its going to take some pretty strange political bedfellows to make anything happen here. I think what ties us all together is we all want make significant progress here and create something that everyone can be proud of.”