BUFFALO, N.Y. --  Two weeks after a three-year-old boy was struck and killed by a car in Delaware Park, the State Department of Transportation has already taken a number of steps to make the Scajaquada Expressway safer.

"When Governor Cuomo appropriately issued an order to reduce the speed in the park as result of the tragedy, what that taught us was that when government wants to do something, it can be done immediately," civic leader Kevin Gaughan said.

The swift government action has led community advocate Kevin Gaughan to believe that now is the time for change. This week, he called upon the governor.

"The most innovative and forward way to address problems like our Scajaquada and Kensington Expressway today is to put them underground," he said.

Gaughan said while the idea to move parts of the city's two major expressways underground is potentially more expensive than the parkway ideas being championed by some state legislators, it would be nothing compared to what the state is already spending to rebuild the Tappan Zee Bridge.

"If state government can spend $5 billion for downstate, they ought to be able to create an investment for upstate and for Western New York as well," he said.

He said the project would also restore acres of Frederick Law Olmstead park space and reconnect the east side with the rest of the city of Buffalo.

"It's not a yes or no answer," said retired Department of Transportation engineer Joe Tocke said. "I think it's more of a, you've got to get out there and look at the options. you've got to talk to the community. You've got to look at the economic climate."

The idea was interesting enough to Tocke that he decided to help Gaughan with his research. He said the peak and valley profile of the expressways does make it feasible to put them underground.

"You don't want to do the same thing like building concrete tunnels and boring through the rock or things like that," he said. "You want to look at the profile of the land. You want to look at what's the best way to integrate this natural construction process."

Gaughan admitted the plan, which he's worked on for eight months, is an ambitious one.

"I could understand anyone who would be pessimistic about any grand or aspiring plan," he said.

But, he said he believes in the direction the city's going and that this project could be a major part of it.