Federal agencies rejected design for good reasons
Updated: 05/04/08 6:47 AM
What makes a signature bridge? A 567-foot-high cable-stayed bridge in a windy corridor that devastates more birds and West Side property than lower options? The lovely 226-foot-high triple-arched-bridge is taller than the Peace Bridge. Taxpayers want a bridge that is cost-effective to build and maintain and, most of all, safe for the environment and for drivers.
It is not in the public’s best interest for politicians to overturn decisions by environmental and transportation departments. Sen. Charles Schumer has a history of using his position to override the Fish and Wildlife Service. An April 25 News article stated Schumer got the agency to reverse its decision on a wetland standing in the way of Wal-Mart’s distribution center in Fulton. (Tell Schumer wetlands combat global warming!)
As reported April 29, the Federal Highway Administration and Fish and Wildlife Service directors had no knowledge of rejecting the bridge. Schumer was quoted as saying, “I think this shows this was done at a lower level. This gives us a real chance.” Chance for what? To manipulate the facts gathered by lower-level employees? Unconscionable, anti-environmental political interference like Schumer’s should be illegal.
Kathleen Lahti
Little Valley
