Parkway needs maintenance, not a new purpose

Editor:

Regarding the effort by State Assemblyman Steve Hawley with the Lake Ontario State Parkway: I would like to commend Hawley on his interest in improving the Parkway.

Sounds like the assemblyman was provoked into action by irate constituents. While I’m not a constituent, my family and friends pay property taxes in both Monroe and Orleans counties. We use the Parkway weekly three seasons a year, and monthly over the winter months.

But Hawley’s solution for the deterioration the Parkway is misguided. Perhaps he should read the state Moto “EXCELSIOR” (Ever Upward). By shutting down the northbound lane (west bound), it would remove the most scenic parts of the parkway in Orleans County – not to mention, making it private lands for the few, not the many, as first intended by Robert Moses.

Instead the assemblyman should use his levers of power to make sure proper funding for maintenance is in the State Budget. So we, New Yorkers, continue to enjoy the Seaway Trail, a National Scenic Byway in this jurisdiction, as a world-class byway.

This could be accomplished by Hawley and other Western New York state legislators, lobbying for proper maintenance and improvement funding, such as adding a few scenic rest stops close to the lake, with fishing piers and benches to watch sunsets.

With those improvements maybe more tourists will head to Point Breeze, and other Orleans County destinations while on a wonderful scenic drive.

Respectfully,

Timothy J. Flavin
Rochester