In the spring of 2000, a time when talk of Peace Bridge expansion was on everyone’s lips, I had the opportunity to attend a bridge design charette in Toledo, Ohio, where an enthusiastic citizenry was planning a new river crossing. I was so energized by what I saw and heard that I became determined to spread the word in Western New York about the benefits of a great public project.

In 2001, I was invited to join the Binational Civic Advisory Committee for the Peace Bridge expansion project. Along with my colleagues, I attended meetings with the project director, architects and engineers, and endeavored to study and learn throughout its many stages.

For more than four years, until the committee last met on Oct. 18, 2004, at the Historical Society, I attended every work session, lobbied politicians, spoke, wrote and distributed many articles in my efforts to further public understanding and acceptance, as our committee was charged to do.

I experienced firsthand the efforts of the Peace Bridge Authority to inform and educate the public in the many and varied aspects of design, siting and construction, and to provide opportunity for inclusion of as many stakeholders as cared to participate.

I was once criticized for speaking in favor of the project at a public work session that was held in Black Rock. The heckler charged that, since I live in Pendleton, I had no right to opine on a bridge that lands in Buffalo. Friends, not only do I have that right, but I feel obligated to do whatever I can to see this area prosper.

My interest in the bridge stems from many levels. As a toll-paying user — along with all of the other pedestrians, cyclists, automobile and truck drivers, and business owners who depend on the bridge — I have the right to expect a safe and efficient crossing.

As a state and federal taxpayer, and an owner of property in Ontario, I support the Peace Bridge through my taxes. Finally, in my larger role as an American citizen, I feel that the Peace Bridge ought to be a more attractive and efficient portal to our country.

One fact that has emerged throughout the lengthy proceedings is that the Peace Bridge was built where it is because that location was — and remains today — the best and most practical spot available.

The lovely homes along Busti Avenue that face the bridge plaza have benefited from recent landscape alterations. The neighborhood and adjoining Olmsted Park will be enhanced by completion of the project. One should note that those residents who oppose the project chose to make their homes in the proximity of a bridge that existed long before they came.

A recent critic pointed out that bridge traffic has declined in recent years and that, in her opinion, bridge expansion is unnecessary. We can only hope that trend will reverse, along with the fortunes of our economy.

It has been a great disappointment to witness the determined efforts of a strident few to derail this noble project. The authority has taken it on the chin many times, but in fact it has been a good steward and the bridge has served us well for 82 years.

However, time and use have taken their toll and it is imperative that modernization commence. Keith Parwulski said it best in his letter to The News about the proposed Wegmans store in Clarence. To paraphrase him: We should be working with top-notch entities like the Bridge Authority instead of fighting them tooth and nail.