Urban News

(BUFFALO) -- A member of Congress tells the City of Buffalo that federal funds might be stopped for a long-standing harbor project. Rep. Jack Quinn, R.-N.Y., has told Buffalo's mayor, Anthony M. Masiello, that nearly $50 million in federal monies for the city's inner harbor project might soon be withdrawn. The reason, according to the congressman, is that the city has been too slow in completing the project, for which funds have been allocated for more than a decade.

Quinn told Masiello that some of the funds have been sitting in federal accounts since 1991. Many now say they could be used for more vital projects in cities willing to start construction.

The Buffalo News says that not only is harbor construction on hold, so are plans for a multi-modal transportation center and a massive parking structure.

Additionally, one environmental group has been asking for an additional delay in some of the construction, fearing that an original section of the Erie Canal could be destroyed if plans proceed.

(PHOENIX) -- A group of highway engineers in Phoenix is pushing for more quiet roadways. The Arizona Republic says that proponents of what is called "rubberized asphalt" want to conduct a $34 million study to see if the product can cut the noise level on inner-city freeways.

The plan would call for the use of the new product when sections of the Arizona 101 downtown connector road is repaved. And when the proposed eastward extension of Arizona 202 is built, it would be constructed, from the word "go," with the new stuff.

Engineers say that where the pavement is being used the noise level drops 3 to 5 decibels.

The plan would call for the use of the new quieter pavement on more than 100 miles of Phoenix Interstate-grade roads. The work would not be completed until late in 2007, if approved and carried out.

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) -- Law enforcement officials in Kansas City report that they are investigating the source of a small oil spill on a busy street that caused at least one traffic accident. The slick ran for nearly a mile along Wornall Road on Thursday morning. It extended from 75th Street to a point south of Interstate 435.

According to the Kansas City Star, at least one non-injury accident resulted from the unexpected oil slick.

Police say that they have no idea where the oil came from.

Firefighters were called out to put what amounts to an industrial-strength "kitty litter" on the slick.

The single accident happened when a car went into a slide in the substance at mid-morning.

(OAKLAND, Calif.) -- The increasingly busy Oakland International Airport is among major U.S. jetports bracing for the second wave of the holiday travel rush. In a release to United Press International, the airport's Cyndy Johnson says the facility estimates that the peak travel days will be through this coming weekend to Christmas Eve, and again on Jan. 2, 3 and 5.

Many people who have not been through the airport (and others around the country) since stepped-up security will find that it could be a longer hike from car or taxi to gates. Many of the old drive-up areas are cordoned off and the closest parking is farther away from terminals.

Additionally, at the San Francisco International Airport, managers there are offering deeply discounted parking in short-term lots. One spokesman tells KCBS Radio that, because only ticketed passengers can now go into the inner sections of the airport, fewer people are parking in short-term areas to see off departing passengers. Because of this, revenues from close-in lots are down.