Ohio Street

Transforming an industrial corridor into a tree-lined waterfront parkway

Located southeast of the central business district on the edge of the industrial waterfront areas, Ohio Street was a key site in the city’s industrial development. Industries developed along the Buffalo River, transforming the city into a manufacturing center during the 19th century. Today, Ohio Street is one of the major connectors between the city’s inner and outer harbors, playing an important role in the revitalization of Buffalo’s waterfront. The Ohio Street corridor links major activity centers including Canalside, the Cobblestone District in the Inner Harbor, Gallagher Beach, Wilkeson Point, and Buffalo Harbor Park in the Outer Harbor. The recent conversion of Ohio Street into a waterfront parkway helps link local neighborhoods and residents to the transformation happening along the waterfront.

The streetscape project transformed this underutilized, four-lane commercial roadway built for automobiles, into a complete street that makes travel safe and comfortable for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders. A central feature of the project was the reduction and re-allocation of travel lanes to provide space for a multi-use pathway and green infrastructure. A 12-foot-wide shared-use path and new parking lanes were installed with porous asphalt to reduce pressure on the sewer system during heavy rain or snowmelt events. Over 260 trees were also planted along the corridor to capture and store rain and snowmelt.