Businesses hope for more traffic with cars returning to Main Street

A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.

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Construction on the 600 block of Main Street. Photo taken July 25.

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“The survival of the Theater District is not just the rail or the buildings; it’s the people. Without people, it’s not a theater district.” – Harold Cohen, former dean of architecture at University at Buffalo, who was the man behind the original project that brought the rail and the pedestrian mall to Main Street

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A construction crew works with a concrete slab on the 600 block of Main Street. The pedestrian mall that has been in place for three decades is being removed.

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Construction on the 600 block of Main Street. Photo taken July 25.

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Construction on the 600 block of Main Street. Photo taken July 25.

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By Sara DiNatale

Buffalo’s Main Street is tangled in construction, heavy machinery and high expectations. The pedestrian mall is being removed; curbs, pavement and sidewalks are being torn up. Main Street is undoing its 30-plus-year run of having no traffic.