Are ropeway systems the future of people moving within the city of Buffalo?  There is seems to be growing interest in aerial ropeway transportation to the Buffalo waterfront and beyond.  To this point conversation has  centered around  pictures showing existing short distance systems in operation around the world and in the United States.  They are touted as being efficient,  attractive, inexpensive, quiet, energy-saving  and scenic.

What gets neglected has been totally ignored in the conversation is the 800 pound gorilla in the room – WIND.

According to City-Data.com Cheektowaga (#35), Amherst (#36), Buffalo (#37) and Niagara Falls (#38) make its Top 101 windiest city list.  All 3 have an average speed of 11.8 mph.   Where monthly stats exists, i.e. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,  the months of November, December, January, February and March would have a major impact of local cost single ropeway transportation as the average wind speed rises to 12.6, 13.1, 14.0, 13.3, 13.1 miles per hour .  Additionally NOAA identifies something we know already, particularly those living along the Lake Erie shoreline.  This area’s prevailing winds arrive from the Southwest, South-Southwest, or Westerly direction, blowing laterally across the shoreline and major roadways.

This means that anyone inside an aerial gondola along the waterfront would not be moving into the wind or with the wind at their gondola’s back.  You would be buffeted by the wind.

There is a very busy tram system in operation serving Roosevelt Island in the middle of the New York City’s East River.  A blog titled Roosevelt Island Online recorded post from people who were on the tram during a windy day:

Very windy day on Saturday. gcris tweeted:  Roosevelt Island Tram. Nothing scarier than being suspended on 3 wires on windy day above the East River.

Roosevelt Island 360 reports on a message he received from a passenger on Saturday’s Tram:  Today’s ride (02-19-2011) was HORRIBLE. People were screaming inside. Due to high wind the cabin was swinging terribly. I’ll never take the tram during windy days. I was scared to death!  I spoke with a Tram Operator on Sunday who was on duty Saturday. The Operator told me that the Tram handled the high winds fine on Saturday.

According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC), the Tram:  Operates in all weather conditions except for lightning and winds over 50 miles per hour.

I hope your Tram ride was uneventful and that there was no screaming during the journey over the East River.

The Roosevelt Tram was constructed in 1976 and refurbished in 2010 at a cost of $25 million for its 3,100 foot length.  That is $8,064.52 per foot.

Another problem with the ropeway was discovered in a study prepared for Portland State University in Portland, OR.  This city has a Ropeway in use.  The study found that with current technology, the longer the Ropeway the less the passenger load and the less frequent number of cars in use.  Length causes diminishing returns and increased cost.  You can read that study here:

http://web.pdx.edu/~bertini/courses/558/Aerialropeways.pdf

Finally, the fastest cable ropeway in operation is the 2.1 mile long Genting Skyway at Gohtong Jaya, Malaysia.  Wikipedia has this to say:  “At the maximum speed of 6 metres per second (21.6 km/h – 12.96 mph), the 3.38-kilometre (2.10 mi) journey up the mountain peak takes approximately 15 minutes, depending on the weather.”

At the moment, supporters are in love because they see this as a novel waterfront experience and are selling that notion without looking at the whole picture beforehand.    I hope that the instead of promoting an attractive notion, some serious research be done that provides the most reliable method of mass people moving based on cost, speed, reliability, and weather related shut down before going any further.

Ropeway systems may be the way to go.  And then again, it may not.

The dual Peace Bridge Connecting Buffalo USA to Fort Erie Canal will never be built was the theme of my 2004 Masters Degree  in Education project at SUNY College at Buffalo in 2004.  I received my Masters.  I assume my findings were worth the paper they were printed on.  By 2004 the debate over the bridge was about ten years old.  Here we are nine years after my project and nineteen years after the idea was announced and the bridge still not has been resolved.

The problem then, as it is now, there are too many conflicting interests in involved in the decision-making process.  Fort Erie has 74 acres of land available for bridge services,  Buffalo has 18 acres.  Fort Erie has 30,000 residents – Buffalo 260,000.  The bridge in Fort Erie will no expand into a residential neighborhood in Buffalo it will.  Bridge traffic in Fort Erie bypasses its small central business district in Buffalo it passes right through it.  The U.S. under-staffs the bridge crossing the Canadians don’t.  The bridge is vital to Fort Erie economy (jobs) in Buffalo it is not.  The list goes on and now the Governor of New York and  Canada’s Counsel General have gotten involved and demands that people be replaced are invoked.

It is a mess.

It is time for everyone to grow up get serious and do what should have been done 20 years ago.  Settle the issue.  And here is how it must be done and done ASAP.

and keep doing it

until it is resolved.

Peace Out!

The Buffalo Skyway can be adapted for non-vehicular re-use, all we need do is look for alternatives to demolition.  The bridge is a familiar sight to anyone one who lives in or has visited the city. An observer on a boat on Lake Erie, the Niagara River or standing on the Fort Erie, Canada waterfront is treated to a signature view.

Buffalo Skyway crosses the Buffalo River

The Skyway was designer and lead engineer was Edward P. Lupfer,  He had a similar role in the construction of the International Peace Bridge in the late 1920s.  The Skyway came to life in October 1955 as a route between the heavy steel and cargo industries on the Buffalo Outer Harbor and City of Lackawanna.

It was constructed 7,000 feet long to allow for a water clearing elevation of 193 ft over the Buffalo Ship Canal and 215 ft over the Buffalo River.  This made it possible for the ships of the various Great Lakes fleets access the Buffalo River inner harbor cereal, grain storage, chemical, steel, warehousing and other industries that lined a 5 mile segment of the river.

Today, the heavy industry of the lake and river waterfronts are gone.  River traffic is probably down to less than 25 ships per year instead of 25+ ships per day.  It has been reported that it keeps some 30 acres of prime waterfront from being developed.  The New York State Department of Transportation has labeled the structure as a “deficient” bridge.  The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is even more harsh calling the Skyway :”fracture critical.”  That means it could suffer a structure catastrophe.

It will cost $100 million to demolish the structure or over the coming years $125 million to keep it from failing.  People hear that number and automatically say, “that is an awful lot of money!”  If you put it in perspective number really is not that great.  An F-22 Raptor costs $150 million each.  ;-)

i was in favor of demolition for a long time.  But, I made a 180 degree turn when, a couple of days ago, I stumble upon a Ran Webber presentation from 4 years ago.  He has an idea that provides an adaptive reuse of the Skyway at a public-private cost of $285 million, two F-22 Raptor’s.  It is daring.  It is creative.  It is entirely unique.  It is an opportunity for the community to really make a statement.  Unfortunately, it looks like there is very little political or community interest.

My site is so small it won’t reach many, but, like the lottery, you never know.  I think his ideas needs a good hard look-see.  Click the link to view Mr. Webber’s 16 minute presentation.

http://www.ranwebber.com/Movie/skywaymovie.html

By the end of 2012 professor-researchers  from SUNY Buffalo’s Medical and Sciences departments produced a number of inventions that could have life changing effects for people from around the world.   These breakthroughs involved:

1.  “Self-Seeding” blood vessels.

2.  Superbug Destroyer

3.  Biofilm Eradicaor

4.  Nano-Shields for Therapeutics

5.  Tumor Suppressor

6.  MicroRNA as Cancer-Fighter.

7.  New Imaging Agents.

Read the news

Congratulations are due to the many people involved in the projects and the Univ. at Buffalo for making it all possible.  As a community we are hopeful that these inventions lead to some type for economic development in the form of  business development and while attracting more highly quality researchers as SUNY Buffalo develops its center city Buffalo Medical Campus.

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Mike and Sharon Murphy’s “Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises” continues to grow as a third boat is added to their fleet.  This family business began offering Erie Canal tours in 1988 in the City of Lockport, NY using two pontoon boats. It was a time when not too many people had faith in local tourism and its potential.  Over these past 25 years their operation has grown into a substantial business.  In addition to regularly schedule canal cruises and charters they offer a renovated factory with indoor/outdoor facilities that hosts weddings, banquets, meetings. There is a circa 1845 “free stone” (taken from the rubble produce by local canal lock construction) building  that is used for 4th & 5th Grade Erie Canal history education as part of their cruise experience.  Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises even has been featured as part of the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels – The Erie Canal” presentation.

Earlier this week, Capt. Mike and his crew began their trip from the Thousands Islands to Lockport via Lake Ontario, the Oswego Canal and the Erie Canal (NYS Barge Canal) with their newest acquisition the 76 foot diesel-powered dual paddle-wheel boat  Bonnie Belle.   Conversion of the vessel to meet the needs of Canal service began en-route and continued once moored at the Lockport Locks Canalside Landing. Conversion will continue over the next couple of months.   When completed, The boat will be christened “Lockview VI” and become part of the wedding/charter business along with its partners the 68 foot “Lockview V” and 46 foot “Lockview IV.”

Congratulations are in order to Mike & Sharon for the growth of their business and their continued faith in the local tourism industry.