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Downtown Niagara Falls Multi-Modal Access Program
Niagara Falls, New York
Among its revitalization efforts for Niagara Falls, USA Niagara identified the enhancement of multi-modal access (i.e., pedestrian, bicycle, transit, vehicular) as a key strategic component to fostering economic development downtown. In particular, this involves actions to create a more walk-able and bike-able urban setting for new development and redevelopment activities.
Between 2003 and 2005, funded in part by a grant from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) under the Statewide Planning and Research Program, USA Niagara undertook a comprehensive assessment of transportation access in downtown Niagara Falls. It included inventory, analysis, and planning tasks to identify a series of “do-able”, near-term improvement projects.
Consistent with several past planning efforts for revitalizing downtown, the Multi-Modal Access Program documented that a number of major urban renewal/highway projects stretching from the 1950s to the late 1970s, while improving higher-speed vehicle access, had impeded the ability to foster a lively, urbane street setting. These projects also resulted in separating the downtown area from its greatest assets, the Niagara River and the Falls themselves. Understanding this context, the Program led to the development of a series of projects to:
· Progressively and sensitively re-introduce street elements/characteristics in downtown Niagara Falls to facilitate more user-friendly pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access, while still maintaining acceptable levels of service for vehicles;
· Identify and advance context opportunities to better connect Niagara Falls State Park and waterfront areas to downtown Niagara Falls;
· Introducing urban design elements to the downtown streetscape designed to enhance the pedestrian experience and safety and to visually relate to features in Niagara Falls State Park;
· Simplifying and calming traffic flows on routes serving downtown sites by providing multiple route choices and intuitive wayfinding for residents and tourists; and
· Suggest preliminary components of an overall City program of parking management to better address current and projected demand associated with future development opportunities and to better fit into the urban setting of downtown.
The planning process for the effort included a number of public workshops; stakeholder meetings with all levels of government, community organizations, and interested citizens/private entities; and public presentations through 2003 and 2004, culminating with a public meeting on the draft report on January 11, 2005. And it has yielded results—since the completion of the Multi-Modal Access Program, the following projects have been completed, funded, and/or are in the process of being planned/designed in downtown Niagara Falls:
· Third Street reconstruction/streetscape project (completed August 2005);
· Rainbow Boulevard North/South reconfiguration/traffic calming/streetscaping project (completed Summer 2006);
· Old Falls Street reconstruction/streetscaping project, including sensitive re-introduction of traffic (“East Mall” portion completed July 2007; “West Mall” portion completed May 2010);
· Comprehensive Wayfinding and Signage Program (initial components completed July 2010);
· Robert Moses Parkway South/State Park Access Road reconstruction and reconfiguration project (preliminary design initiated in Spring 2010);
· Rainbow Boulevard – Phase II reconfiguration/traffic calming/streetscaping project, extending from Rainbow Boulevard North/South Project, Third Street to Daly Boulevard segment (NYSDOT Project: scheduled for construction late 2012); and
· John B. Daly Boulevard extension to Pine Avenue (NYSDOT-funded Project: scheduled for construction late 2012).
Read the Final Report:
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