6 ALTERNATIVES TO TWIN SPAN SUGGESTED BY OUTSIDE PANEL

[CITY Edition]

Buffalo News

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Print Media Edition: Financial edition

Buffalo, N.Y.

Oct 7, 1999

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Authors: PATRICK LAKAMP and TOM ERNST

Pagination: B1

Personal Names: Mayer, Stephen F

Abstract:

Outside consultants Wednesday recommended looking at six alternatives

the current plan of building a three-lane companion bridge next to the

Peace Bridge.

Under another alternative, the plaza would be moved south to

accommodate

a single, architecturally dramatic bridge of six lanes as called for by

SuperSpan Upper Niagara.

The companion bridge to the existing 1927 span, commonly referred to as

the twin span, should also undergo more independent study, the

engineering

consultants told the Peace Bridge public review panel.

Full Text:

Outside consultants Wednesday recommended looking at six alternatives

the current plan of building a three-lane companion bridge next to the

Peace Bridge.

Four of the alternatives would require the American plaza to be

relocated

north of the existing plaza.

Under another alternative, the plaza would be moved south to

accommodate

a single, architecturally dramatic bridge of six lanes as called for by

SuperSpan Upper Niagara.

The consultants also recommended more study into the proposed

Freschi-Lin

single, six-lane alternative that could use the existing plaza.

The companion bridge to the existing 1927 span, commonly referred to as

the twin span, should also undergo more independent study, the

engineering

consultants told the Peace Bridge public review panel.

Choosing the right plaza location would go a long way toward

determining

the best bridge design, officials said.

"The bridges are less the issue than the plaza," said Gail Johnstone,

executive

director of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, a group

partly

funding the review, during an interview.

While advocates of alternative bridge designs showed nice pictures of

the

kind of bridge they would like to see built, they lacked the technical

detail to support their proposals, she said.

The Public Consensus Review Panel, created as part of a process started

by County Executive Gorski, Mayor Masiello and two foundations to reach

consensus on the Peace Bridge debate, can look for and study such

details.

"The pictures were alluring," Johnstone said. "There were a lot of

things

left out of those pretty pictures. We're trying to put those things

into

this process."

The panel's consultants -- representatives from Ammann & Whitney

Consulting

Engineers and The Louis Berger Group Inc. -- recommended to the panel

which

alternatives should be studied during a presentation at WNED-TV's

studio

in Buffalo. The hearing will be rebroadcast at 9 a.m. Sunday on

WNED-TV.

The review panel -- comprising about two dozen community leaders - -

will

decide whether to accept the consultants' findings after public

hearings

Oct. 13-14.

Here are the descriptions of the alternatives that the consultants

recommended

be studied.

Twin span

This is what the Peace Bridge Authority has proposed building, and it's

fighting in court to overturn environmental challenges and win needed

easements

from the city of Buffalo. The authority's three- lane companion bridge

would be built along the southern side of the existing bridge. The

companion

span would be 9,750 feet long.

SuperSpan, new south plaza

This bridge of six lanes would be 15,850 feet long. It would not have a

horizontal curve. The plaza area proposed by the SuperSpan Upper

Niagara

group sits south of the existing plaza, located immediately to the

south

Front Park and contiguous to the New York State Thruway. The plaza

would

be developed as a two-tier plaza. The plaza site sits too far from the

existing plaza for a companion scheme to be feasible.

Freschi-Lin, existing plaza

The alignment for this 10,370-foot, horizontally curved bridge would

connect

from the northern side of the bridge into the existing plaza. It would

provide for six lanes.

Freschi-Lin, new north plaza

The plaza, according to the presentation made by the Freschi-Lin group,

would be developed mainly on elevated decks constructed above the

Thruway.

The alignment considered under this alternative would connect a new

horizontally

curved, six-lane bridge -- 8,500 feet long -- with the northern side of

the existing bridge in Canada.

Crossover bridge

This proposal, widely expected to be quickly dismissed, calls for a

new,

six-lane bridge that connects to the southern side of the existing

bridge

in Canada, crosses over the existing bridge, and connects to a new

northern

plaza.

Signature span, north plaza

The plaza for this scheme would be located north of the existing plaza,

as recommended by Robert Biniszkiewicz, a commercial real estate agent.

The new plaza would abut Niagara Street for the two blocks from

Hampshire

to Rhode Island streets. The plaza would be developed primarily at

grade

level. The single, six-lane bridge would be straight with a length of

10,050

feet.

Twin span, new north plaza

A companion span could also be built using the new northern plaza

location.

This alternative envisions a three-lane bridge built parallel to the

north

of the existing Peace Bridge.

Wednesday's three-hour presentation received good reviews all around,

even

from a Peace Bridge Authority official.

"It was a very thorough presentation . . . very well done," said

Stephen

F. Mayer, operations manager for the Peace Bridge. "It mirrors the

process

we went through."

Mayer said the only thing he would take issue with is the projection of

a 150-year life cycle for the bridge. "That's pretty far out (into the

future)," he said.

He declined to comment on what the authority might do if the committee

were to recommend something other than the twin span the authority has

already approved.

Biniszkiewicz, who proposed the alternative plaza location, said he was

happy his plan "survived the first cut of training camp."

He said plaza location is more important than the type of bridge that

built because of the economic impact it can have on the city and

Niagara

Street and the first impression it will give to visitors.

The county, city and two foundations -- the Margaret L. Wendt

Foundation

and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo -- have put up

$500,000

for independent studies of the twin span and alternatives to the

authority's

plan.

The Peace Bridge review panel is not affiliated with the Peace Bridge

Authority,

which has indicated it wants to proceed with its plan to build a

companion

span.

Richard M. Tobe, commissioner of the Erie County Department of

Environment

and Planning, said the recommendations are no guarantee the proposals

will

make the final cut.

Caption: MARK MULVILLE/Buffalo News consultant Seth Grady gives his

presentation

at the Peace Bridge review panel meeting Wednesday in the WNED-TV

studios.

Credit: News Staff Reporters