BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday in Buffalo that the Federal Highway Administration has concluded its environmental impact study for the proposed Kensington Expressway project and issued a "Finding of No Significant Impact."

"I'm proud today to announce that the Kensington Expressway project has been officially given the green light by the federal government, a critically important step," she said.

The conclusion allows New York to move forward with a $1 billion plan to cover a roughly three-quarter of a mile stretch of the Kensington Expressway, creating a tunnel.

"I don't know a better time in our lifetime to make this happen," Hochul said. "Let's do it right now."

Above the expressway, the project will form nine acres of new park land. New York state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said the green space and trees will improve the area around the neighborhoods in Buffalo's East Side.

"DOT did a very rigorous study here. Both DEC and EPA reviewed the methodology, the analysis, the findings. We concur in fact that this is a net benefit for the area. The governor mentioned, when you talk about adding environmental amenities that don't exist currently. That's what this project does," Seggos said.

Advocates take the federal approval as confirmation the tunnel will not create unhealthy air quality conditions around its opening as some critics have suggested. Some opponents of the project believe it would be better to fill the expressway in, but Restore Our Community Coalition Chair Sydney Brown said it's not practical.

"The volume of traffic now does not warrant it is not a wise decision to fill it in and I'll also say this is more than 30 years of sitting around a table and dialoguing about the different options of what's viable, what's possible, what's best for our city. Green space is what's best for our city," Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.

After three decades of discussions, advocates are celebrating being one step closer to fruition. The governor said the state will break ground this year.

Longtime East Side activist and champion of reconnecting the red-lined community, Stephanie Barber Geter, passed away last month but was on the minds of many Friday.

"Her passion for the work and restoring this community is unprecedented for one person to work so hard, to have a mission in her life to make sure that this community did not go forgotten," Ellen Harris-Harvey, Trinidad Neighborhood Association president, said.