New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the 10 panelists for the Buffalo Skyway Corridor competition.
The Skyway Corridor is a functionally obsolete, structurally deficient, highway bridge that separates the city from its waterfront.
New York’s proposed fiscal year 2020 budget includes a six-month national design competition to find alternatives to the corridor. The competition will incentivize the best urban planners, architects, and design firms, Cuomo said.
The competition is open to architects, community planners, design firms and urban planners.
Panelists will review the proposals based on several criteria including cost, impact on traffic patterns and timeframe.
The winner will be given a $100,000 prize. Second place wins $50,000 and third place $25,000.
“The creation of a panel of judges for the Skyway design competition, advances the Governor’s very creative approach to reimagining this roadway into a 21st century connection and how it needs to function to improve transportation access and stimulate additional economic development,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.
Howard Zemsky, Empire State development commissioner, is the panel’s chairman.
Other panelists include Brown, Secretary of State Rossana Rosado, University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning Dean Bob Shibley, and Ethan Kent, senior vice president of Project for Public Spaces.