By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – No more debate, no more studies, just build a new Peace Bridge. That is the message Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and US Congressman Brian Higgins delivered Monday.
They appeared together near the Peace Bridge. Both leaders say Buffalo can no longer afford to wait for construction of a new US plaza and Signature bridge.Mayor Brown says the Peace Bridge project must move forward.
A week ago Canadian officials opened a newly constructed plaza on the Fort Erie side. Now local officials want to see action on the Buffalo side.
Congressman Higgins says he believes the plaza and a new signature bridge would cost about $315 million. Higgins says about 25-million would be provided by the federal government. The rest would come through borrowing by the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.
Higgins and Brown were joined by members of the Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council. They say the entire Peace Bridge project has the potential of generating thousands of new, local construction jobs. The Bridge Authority says they are hoping to break ground on the US Plaza by late 2009, followed by bridge construction.
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