Greenway Nature Trail (Environmental Restoration Program)
Site #B00149
Bikers enjoy the Greenway Trail
Site Description
This site is one mile south of downtown Buffalo, along the shoreline of a man-made bay to Lake Erie known as the Buffalo Outer Harbor. Beginning in the mid-19th centry, the land was artifically created by dredging soils form the bottom of the Buffalo Outer Harbor and depositing the material along the shoreline, a practice that continued until the mid-1960s. Soil dredged from the harbor shipping channels were contaminated from heavy industry that once existed along the waterfront. The site also contained municipal ash and construction disposal debris.
Cleanup
The Greenway Trail follows the Lake Erie shoreline
Under DEC oversight, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) remediated contaminated soils along the shoreline and stablized the shoreline slope with a heavy stone embankment to prevent erosion. The project also included ecological improvements along the shorline and within the Bell Slip bay area, such as the construction of shallow-water fish habitat that is conducive to spawning for local fish species. NFTA planted native vegetation along both sides of the pathway to attract local wildlife.
Reuse
The Greenway Nature Trail, also called the "Greenbelt", stretches 6,400 feet along Lake Erie's shoreline from the former Pier restaurant to the Terminal B building of Buffalo's old port facilities, and connects to the already existing bike path along Fuhrmann Boulevard.
Funding and Partner Agencies
DEC provided $12.1 million in Environmental Restoration Program funding to NFTA for the cleanup project, with additional funding provided through federal highway programs.
