Even on a chilly, windy day like Tuesday, plenty of people came out to enjoy the Niagara River. But they had to take a circuitous route to get to the stretch. That's because of the Robert Moses Parkway, now called the Niagara Scenic Parkway.

"It blocked Niagara Falls from arguably the greatest waterfront in the world," said Rep. Brian Higgins, (D) 26th Congressional District.

The New York Power Authority owns the 18.4 mile stretch of the Niagara Scenic Parkway. And that's why Higgins is calling on NYPA to remove the highway from the 190 to the state park and turn it into a true parkway.

"When Robert Moses said that it was a parkway, it was never formally a parkway. He said that to bamboozle the community into believing that they were getting something that they didn't. They did this to the community and they are responsible financially, morally, and legally for the fix," said Higgins.

The project would include streets that cut-through the parkway and the heavy industry to reconnect the neighborhoods with the water. Both Higgins and tourism officials say it would spur economic development.

"It's vital to any community's success, as we've seen in Buffalo, to open that up and to have that accessibility and have the visual impact," said John Percy, the Destination Niagara USA president & CEO.

Higgins said, "I see Niagara Falls, because of this project, in five years, where Buffalo is today. And that is a much more optimistic view for the people who live here and the development community."

Higgins says he anticipates that if NYPA agrees to reconstruct the portion of the Robert Moses, that construction could start as soon as 2019 or 2020.

"What we want to do is continue the momentum. There's no reason to do the north end and have a huge gap in activity and then start the south end. We want this to be a continued process toward a full completion of this project," said Higgins.

NYPA's statement in response to Higgins did not say whether they would commit to this portion of the project. But they did say that by 2020, they will have contributed $160 million to reconnecting Niagara Falls with its waterfront.  

Their statement said, "NYPA is eager to continue its community engagement as we work together to reimagine the Niagara Falls region."