By Doug Draper
Plans to site a major NASCAR-level motor speedway in the border town of Fort Erie has received a major injection of fuel from councillors for the town and Niagara’s regional government.
Fort Erie resident and speedway critic Sandy Vant urges Niagara regional councillors to consider concerns of residents where giant track would go
The speedway plan, which includes drawings for high-speed tracks surrounded by a grandstand capable of seating 100,000 people, received the go ahead with week for a full-planning review from councillors from Fort Erie and from the Integrated Community Planning and Public Works Committee for Niagara’s regional government.
The approvals from the two levels of municipal government to move forward with a full review of the plan (see a related report by contributor Tim Seburn on the Fort Erie council’s decision at the end of this story) has excited its supporters with an eye to seeing it come to fruition has excited the plans, who believe a NASCAR speedway here will draw waves of people from both sides of the border and provide a much-needed boost to a region that has been bleeding business and jobs. But it is a disappointment to others, including environmentalists, agricultural-land preservationists and people living and operating farms on rural lands near the sprawling 800-plus acre site for the speedway.
