Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced a "major milestone" in the $1 billion project to transform the Kensington Expressway, also known as The 33, in Buffalo.

According to Hochul's office, the Federal Highway Administration has issued a "finding of no significant impact," which signals the end of the environmental assessment process and gives the green light for the New York State Department of Transportation to advance the final design stages and begin construction this fall.

The project is designed to reconnect neighborhoods within East Buffalo that have been divided by the expressway. The designs include turning a section of the expressway that sits below ground into a tunnel with 11 acres of green space on top. Hochul's office says the DOT will also conduct a study this year on additional potential enhancements that would further reconnect the community. That would apply to the area up to the Scajaquada Expressway and Delaware Park and would include a reimagined Humboldt Parkway.

Some residents of the neighborhood are passionately speaking out against it and demanding the removal of the highway splitting their community altogether.

"Our Berlin Wall is The 33 Kensington Expressway," said Sherry Sherill, director of the East Side Collaborative Partnership. "It's made people worse than upset. It's made people sick. Humboldt Parkway neighborhood residents don't deserve a highway to be perpetuated to run right through the middle of their living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, living rooms and kitchens."

The DOT will continue to listen to members of the community to ensure the best outcome for the corridor and the people who live there, Hochul's office says.

A new Kensington Outreach Center is now officially open in East Buffalo on Humboldt Parkway. Its hours are 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturday. The public can go there to learn more about overall planning and construction.