December 5, 2008

Legislator Kennedy and South Park Avenue Revitalization Committee Choose Street Lights!

The South Park Avenue Revitalization Committee met this past week and chose the new street lights which will be placed along the commercial slip when construction begins in the Fall of 2009. Legislator Kennedy began the meeting by asking members of the committee to keep in mind the significance of their decisions and how it will impact the design and look of the commercial strip for decades to come. Kennedy stated, "What we envision as a group will soon become a reality. With your help, South Park is going to become a vibrant commercial strip where new street lights shine down on enhanced crosswalks and colorful trees seem to light the neighborhood during the day. Tonight we will collectively take the first step toward realizing our shared goal of a beautifully reconstructed South Park Avenue."

At the inaugural meeting of the South Park Avenue Revitalization Committee, members were presented with different options for street lights along the avenue. After spending some time driving around the city and viewing each lighting option first hand, members reconvened and started discussing their likes and dislikes.

"When making my choice I wanted to keep in mind the bigger picture," stated Marge Ryan, member of the South Park Avenue Revitalization Committee and President of South Buffalo Alive. "The street lights put in place off of Tifft at the new Lakeside Commerce Park are beautiful. Rather then go in a completely different direction, my opinion was to put those same street lights on South Park Avenue."

"Hopefully we'll be able to connect the dots," stated Charlotte Driscoll, another member of the committee in favor of the street lights at Lakeside Commerce Park. "In the future it would be great to see the same street lights running down Tifft, all the way to Route 5."

Following a discussion period lead by the City of Buffalo's Department of Public Works (DPW), members of the committee unanimously chose to adopt the street lights currently in place at the Lakeside Commerce Park, which is located directly across from the George J. Hartman Playfield. Members from the DPW also introduced options for the crosswalks, which will be voted on during the next meeting of the committee scheduled for January 14th.

"We're making great strides," stated Legislator Kennedy. "Soon enough we'll be able to drive down the South Park Avenue we all envision."

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