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The saga of expansion at the bridge is one that has dragged on for almost 20 years. WBEN and Buffalo's Early News take a look Friday morning at the latest.
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While Plans for a Bridge Move Ahead in Detroit.....
Despite not connecting directly into a major freeway, Detroit still maintains its status as the nation's highest volume border crossing. And officials last month announced a second bridge crossing there to compete with the privately run Ambassador Bridge
“This agreement is about more than building a bridge,” Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said last month. . “It’s about building a future of economic strength and security for families across our entire state." While they await a debate over design proposals, environmental approvals are in place, and all they need is to secure approval from the President and the Coast Guard to begin construction.
And oddly, in all of their publicity on the effort, and even on Gov. Snyder's "build this bridge" blog, the design (above and left) looks oddly like the span Christian Menn proposed for Buffalo that was struck down after environmental officials found it was hazardous to birds. (below) READ MORE FROM MICHIGAN
...Traffic Volume At Peace Bridge Grows More Quickly Here
While plans for an expanded truck plaza at the Peace Bridge and eventually a larger span move slowly, traffic is steadily growing there at a faster pace than at the Detroit Ambassador Bridge. Here's the latest numbers from the Peace Bridge Authority
| Ambassador Bridge | Peace Bridge | ||
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2010 – Cars up 8.34%, trucks up 16.94% buses up 0.24%, overall traffic up 11.36%. 2011 – Cars up 1.96%, trucks down -2.54%, buses down -4.05%, overall traffic up 0.28%. 2012 (through March) – Cars up 3.78%, trucks up 4.45%, buses up 4.82%, overall traffic up 4.04% |
6,494,620 total vehicle crossings in 2009. 7,232,366 total vehicle crossings in 2010. 7,252,916 total vehicle crossings in 2011. |
2010 – Cars up 0.11%, trucks up 9.30% buses up 0.47%, overall traffic up 1.85%. 2011 – Cars up 0.08%, trucks up 2.61%, buses up 12.74%, overall traffic up 0.65%. 2012 (through March) – Cars up 4.89%, trucks up 2.91%, buses up 6.68%, overall traffic up 4.42%. |
5,908,235 total vehicle crossings in 2009.
6,017,725 total vehicle crossings in 2010. 6,056,998 total vehicle crossings in 2011. |
NY Environmental Officials Step up Enforcement on Idling Trucks at Peace BridgeBuffalo, NY (WBEN) In an effort to improve air quality around the Peace Bridge, the DEC and Peace Bridge Authority will conduct a series of enforcement efforts aimed at truck traffic at the Peace Bridge Plaza.
"We look for idling diesels, we look for vehicles not in compliance with air quality regulations," says DEC Captain Frank Lauricella. The sweeps will include periodic inspection checkpoints.
Lauricella says new signs recently went up. "At the last detail, we also distributed signage letting people know what they're allowed to do and what the rules are for idling diesels," explains Lauricella.
"If we're looking at idling, it's trucks idling more than five minutes. If we're looking at emissions, we're looking at the opacity of the diesel smoke."
"Air quality is important to all New Yorkers, so anytime we can take an initiative to work on the clean air of New York State, we do so," says Lauricella.
The enforcement actions are being conducted with the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority and are aimed at reducing pollution in the surrounding neighborhood.
An initial compliance sweep conducted in May resulted in 17 commercial vehicle inspections, four tickets and one warning.
State officials say they will hold similar enforcement details for the Peace Bridge plaza this summer.