ONE MORE BRIDGE TO CONSIDER

[FINAL Edition]

Buffalo News

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Print Media Edition: Financial edition

Buffalo, N.Y.

Oct 30, 1999

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Pagination: C2

Personal Names: Stamper, Dan

Abstract:

That's the tempting response to word that a private company from

Detroit

is sticking its oar in the water on the subject of replacing the Peace

Bridge. With all the venom already infecting this project, the last

thing

we need is another distraction, right?

Well . . . maybe not. The interest shown by the Detroit International

Bridge

Co. could have the positive effect of casting this long-standing

project

in a helpful new light or at least of speeding action by the Peace

Bridge

Authority and others wrangling over a design for the Niagara River

crossing.

The Michigan company owns and operates the elegant Ambassador Bridge

linking

Detroit and Windsor, Ont. The Ambassador is a 70-year- old, 9,200-foot

suspension bridge that in 1992 surpassed the Peace Bridge as the

busiest

international border crossing in North America.

Copyright Buffalo News Oct 30, 1999

Full Text:

Oh, good, another bridge idea.

That's the tempting response to word that a private company from

Detroit

is sticking its oar in the water on the subject of replacing the Peace

Bridge. With all the venom already infecting this project, the last

thing

we need is another distraction, right?

Well . . . maybe not. The interest shown by the Detroit International

Bridge

Co. could have the positive effect of casting this long-standing

project

in a helpful new light or at least of speeding action by the Peace

Bridge

Authority and others wrangling over a design for the Niagara River

crossing.

The Michigan company owns and operates the elegant Ambassador Bridge

linking

Detroit and Windsor, Ont. The Ambassador is a 70-year- old, 9,200-foot

suspension bridge that in 1992 surpassed the Peace Bridge as the

busiest

international border crossing in North America.

Tipped off to the controversy over replacing the Peace Bridge, company

President Dan Stamper said that while his organization wasn't looking

to

involve itself in a local controversy -- too late for that -- "We have

been told you have a problem and we want to see if we can solve it."

Stamper's vision begins here: "This situation needs to be looked at

from

a global perspective, with the Niagara and Fort Erie region as part of

a world trade corridor." It is a refreshing comment that recognizes the

strategic significance of this region, even if its economically

stressed

residents don't always appreciate it.

The company's preliminary idea is to build a span north of the Peace

Bridge,

next to the 1873 railroad bridge owned by the Canadian National

Railroad.

It would connect directly to the Interstate highway system, rather than

downtown Buffalo, and would be built to handle truck traffic, easing

congestion

on the existing bridge.

The concept holds some promise, which is only augmented by a financial

incentive: The company would build the bridge with its own money,

rather

than public funds. On the other hand, it could also set its own tolls,

which in Detroit are a substantial $2.25 each way, more than double the

fee charged by the Peace Bridge Authority.

And there are other complications. Governments of the United States and

Canada would have to put customs and immigration checkpoints at the

bridge,

for example.

The risk of new ideas is that they sometimes do little but delay

important

action, and that could happen in this case. At some point, officials

simply

have to make the best decision they can, given the facts at hand.

But this proposal, vague as it is, represents something truly

different.

It deserves at least preliminary exploration to see if it is both

feasible

and desirable.