Issue Position: Peace Bridge

Issue Position

Nowhere else in Western New York can you find a one mile stretch of road more valuable to this region's economic sustainability and prosperity than the Peace Bridge. Today Canadians account for forty percent of D'Youville College students, 15,000 visitors to each Buffalo Bills home game, one-third of patrons at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and twelve percent of Buffalo Sabres season ticket holders.

Tomorrow's Buffalo-Niagara economy is highly dependent on predictable and efficient access to Southern Ontario, a market of more than eight million people and the second fastest growing economy in North America. The only way to build-in predictability and confidence about efficient and hassle-free cross border travel is by building in additional capacity now.

The current Peace Bridge was opened in 1927 when the population of Southern Ontario and the Buffalo-Niagara region was a fraction of what it is today. Why use this early 20th century network to carry 21st century commerce, bolstered by advances in information technology and dependent on on-time delivery of goods and services? Existing infrastructure doesn't work and ignoring this problem will severely damage the economic relationship between our region and Southern Ontario.

As an example, the Ford Stamping Plant in Woodlawn, New York cannot survive without on-time delivery of its product to its sister assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario. Six thousand trucks pass over the Peace Bridge each day carrying $700 million in goods and commerce between the US and Canada each week. On average, trucks and tourists today wait 59 minutes at the Peace Bridge. A new bridge, which is expected to decrease that wait to approximately 14 minutes, will not only save cargo carriers $1.14 billion in lost time annually, it will save people from the harmful health effects of extended engine idling.

Carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions due to stalled traffic contribute to poor air quality in the area near the Peace Bridge. A new American plaza would not only clear the air with a more efficient traffic flow it would give back three acres of parkland originally taken from Olmsted's Front Park and create nearly eight acres of new green space.

A new American plaza and bridge would inject more than $300 million into the regional economy, creating jobs and providing a much needed economic boost to the lower west side of Buffalo and Niagara Street, as the Northern Gateway to the City of Buffalo from Canada.

Given the facts outlined above, the choice seems clear. Now is the time to join together and support efforts to build our bridge to economic growth.

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