Private international bridge stalled by lack of government support
Backers say they’ll keep trying
Although rebuffed in its try for a permit, a Detroit company promised to press ahead with its proposal to build and operate a bridge mainly for trucks across the Niagara River in Buffalo.
“We’re not giving up,” said James B. Kane, regional director for the Ambassador Niagara Signature Bridge Group. “We didn’t think we’d get it on the first shot.”
The group in January filed for permission to build a privately owned and operated, dual-arched concrete span linking Buffalo’s Black Rock neighborhood to the Bridgeburg section of Fort Erie, Ont.
But the U. S. State Department, in rejecting the group’s request for a presidential permit, showed how little support the Ambassador Niagara effort has from governments on both sides of the border.
The State Department said it expected the company to demonstrate support for the project from local, state, provincial and federal authorities, and to show steps have been taken to secure other needed permits.
“It is clear from the comments we have received that the application, as submitted, does not meet these requirements and that, in some cases, no consultations with other relevant officials have taken place,” wrote Edwin R. Nolan, director of the department’s Office of Canadian Affairs, in a letter to Detroit International Bridge Co.
The Ambassador Niagara Signature Bridge Group is a subsidiary of Detroit International Bridge Co. and Canadian Transit Co., which own and operate the Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ont.
“We hope to get government support,” Kane said. “We don’t have Canadian government support at the moment, but we feel ultimately our project is the right answer and will be built, with private dollars.”
The State Department offered several reasons for rejecting the application, including City Hall’s opposition.
Buffalo officials cited their concerns for the Black Rock neighborhood, the concentration of infrastructure in the area and the effect on the scenic views of the Niagara River.
Town of Fort Erie officials told the State Department the group’s application was “significantly flawed.”
Town officials said the Ambassador Niagara Group tried to justify its application two ways. First, it wants to move truck traffic away from the Peace Bridge to reduce vehicle emission pollution. Second, eliminating a U. S. truck inspection facility at the Peace Bridge would allow a more attractive gateway entrance to be built in Buffalo.
Shifting truck traffic to the north, however, does not solve the pollution problem but moves the problem north to expose other residents to truck emissions, Fort Erie officials say.
What’s more, the Peace Bridge Authority has already built a “dramatic gateway entrance into Canada” in Fort Erie and no less should be expected from the authority on the Buffalo side, they say.
The state Department of Transportation declined to support the application, citing “costly improvements to the highway network in order to support such a project.”
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation said the application “has not addressed connectivity with our provincial highway system as well as potential construction and maintenance implications that could impact the existing system.”
The Peace Bridge Authority lists a dozen objections to the Ambassador Niagara effort. Among them, the project would put thousands of additional trucks on the narrowest part of the Niagara Thruway, where it’s neither practical nor affordable to widen, the authority said.
The Niagara Thruway and Scajaquada Expressway interchange also would have to be rebuilt, the authority said.
Kane said the group will seek the permit again.
“We’ll resubmit an application when we have further information that lends credibility to our cause,” he said. “We’re going to take what we’ve got, add to it and resubmit it, as we see fit and on our timetable.”
“We’re not going to give up because we don’t have every single politician supporting us,” he added. “That was always going to be the hardest part.”
