Buffalo-Bound Pedestrian Bridge enters Erie Canal

COEYMANS, N.Y. — The impressive entryway to Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Park has departed the Capital Region and began the final leg of its transatlantic trek along the Erie Canal, Carver Companies announced Friday.

The Ralph Wilson Park Bridge will serve as the entrance to Ralph Wilson Park , a massive community-driven redevelopment project transforming a 100-plus-acre City of Buffalo waterfront park into a world-class recreational destination.

The Ralph Wilson Park Bridge departed from Italy last month in four large sections aboard the commercial-shipping vessel Aralia. It crossed through New York Harbor on June 22 and traveled up the Hudson River to the Port of Coeymans. Carver Companies , which owns and operates the maritime terminal south of Albany, then took possession of the bridge and successfully offloaded the sections onto two 195-foot-long barges.

The structure is scheduled to arrive in Buffalo July 15.

Once assembled and installed, the 266-foot bridge will cross the I-190 highway and the CSX freight rail line, connecting the Lower West Side of Buffalo to the transformed park, which is scheduled to start opening in phases in 2026.