Peace Bridge Essay

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Construction of The Peace Bridge in Buffalo New York

What can construction do for an area? The construction of an office building may bring in a firm, corporation, or company. The construction of a sporting arena may keep a team where it currently is, or bring a new team to that area. For example, the construction of the HSBC Arena kept the Sabres in Buffalo. The construction of a casino may bring in tourists, or people who live in the outlying suburbs. It seems obvious that all of the prior examples bring economic growth and development to that certain place. However, there is a less obvious question to be asked. If a new bridge is built what can that bring to an area? In the case of Buffalo, many people believe economic revival. …show more content…

It became a link between Fort Erie, Canada and Buffalo, New York. The bridge is over one mile long, 5,800 feet, and holds three lanes of traffic. The center lane may go north or south depending on the volume of traffic. In 1934, the Great Depression caused a change. The Peace Bridge became publicly owned. As a result there were no taxes to be paid, and financing for projects could be obtained by issuing bonds at a low interest rate. The publicly owned bridge instituted a board of governors called the Peace Bridge Authority, PBA. The board, which made all decisions, was made up of six Americans and three Canadians. From that time until 1996 there were few changes made. Only some minor renovations took place. The renovations were the repaving and repainting of the bridge, and the addition of new traffic lights and …show more content…

Once again, it is necessary to remember that the Peace Bridge is an important link between the United States and Canada. The PBA states, "There was ten million dollars traveling over the bridge weekly in 1990, presently in 2001 there is 700 million dollars traveling over the bridge weekly." In addition, 6,000 trucks carrying commercial goods travel over the bridge daily. By the year 2003, the Peace Bridge will reach ultimate capacity. If traffic continues to grow, the bridge will become outdated by 2004. Therefore, a new bridge is

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