A News Brief by Doug Draper
It is hard to believe we still don’t have a shovel in the ground after all the many years of discussing the need to build a twin span for the Peace Bridge.
Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins makes pitch for expanding Peace Bridge crossing.
The talk has been going on for so long that had someone simply dusted off the blueprints for the original Peace Bridge, built in the 1920s, when serious talk of a new span more than a decade ago, we could, by now have six or bridges just like the original one, serving one of the busiest border crossing areas in all of North America.
Political representatives on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border have pushed over and over again for some movement on constructing a new span. The latest push came this March 30 from U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins, who represents Buffalo, New York area.
For the information of our readers, Niagara At Large is posting a media release from the office of Congressman Higgins below.
Congressman Higgins Meets with U.S. Secretary of Transportation to Discuss Peace Bridge
On Wednesday, March 30 Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27), a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees, met with United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to discuss the Peace Bridge project in Western New York.
Congressman Higgins released the following statement detailing the meeting:
“Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit with Transportation Secretary LaHood and share with him directly how critically important the Peace Bridge is to integrating Western New York’s economy with booming Southern Ontario, relaying the essential link this project provides to jobs and growth at our educational, cultural, sports, airports, medical and retail destinations.
How a new span crossing the Niagara River may look near the current Peace Bridge.
“There is a new level of commitment from the federal government never before seen on the Peace Bridge project. Secretary LaHood, his staff and the Administration are informed and engaged with a clear understanding of how important this project is for Western New York and the entire nation.
“Several recent developments are further propelling this project on a promising pace. First we have clarity. Uncertainty over the prospect of Shared Border Management has led to confusion and delays. In February Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed that preclearance is dead, definitively asserting, ‘We cannot do it,’ this resolution allows us to move forward.
Construction of the Peace Bridge in the 1920s was completed in two years. Photo courtesy of Buffalo and Fort Erie Peace Bridge Authority.
“Second, for the first time ever, substantial funding for land ports of entry has been included in the President budget. The 2012 budget includes $2.2 billion to support significant improvements to facilities which link directly to the transportation infrastructure at border crossing locations, and the Administration has confirmed the Peace Bridge is on their list of priorities.
“And third we have closure that gets us to construction. After years of studies, debate and designs the issuance of the Record of Decision is expected this year, giving the federal government’s final green light on the project, a step that will lead to long awaited shovels in the ground.
“Like the waterfront, the tolls, the power authority, FEMA flood maps, Bethlehem Steel compensation and dozens of other obstacles, people have told us the Peace Bridge can’t be done, at least not in our lifetime. I am here to say that Western New York is worth the fight, and for every nudge backward we will find a way to leap forward with a sustained focus and a constant goal of building a better economy and quality of life for the community we all love.”
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Niagara At Large 
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Hey, Brian, wanna bet?
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Closure? Green lights? Shovels? The project sponsor can’t even pay for the building permits! When is a public official liable for false advertising? Pusillanimous press mongering!
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Rep. Higgins’ comments show that he is blind to the problems which underlie traffic congestion at the Peace Bridge. They are primarily the result of U.S. and Canadian Federal Govt. policies which have shifted long-distance hauling from railroads to highways. Its the resulting great numbers of big trucks, not cars, which block things up. It doesn’t hellp that most of the (Federal Government) Custom booths are usually closed. Incidentally, Higgins doesn’t realize that this long-haul traffic provides no local benefit, since they are only moving through here, as fast as they can, in order to serve other states or provinces, stopping only occasionly at motels or other rest stops. Higgins also shows himself to be unaware of the comming oil crisis. Railroads use only a fraction of the fuel that trucks use. He’s also unaware of the historical and architectural treasures which present new-bridge plans will destroy. I guess he must be just another dumb politician. (I live in Buffalo, near the Peace Bridge.)
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I like the Ambassador Bridge better, no taxpayers money involved and they have aquired plenty of brownfields in Black Rock. Ron Reinas was the Fort Erie Town Manager that says it all. we will all be in our graves by the time the Peace Bridge is twinned.
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