Peace Bridge expansion talk premature

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Talk of a renewed effort to begin planning for a second span at the Peace Bridge is overblown, Jim Heaney told Steve Brown on Sunday’s weekly installment of Outrages & Insights.

Heaney said his sources tell him the Peace Bridge Authority is focused on its $185 million capital improvement plan that will take another four years to complete. Any serious consideration of a second span would likely be put off until the bulk of that work is done, he said.

Heaney noted that bridge traffic has steadily dropped since the 9-11 terror attacks. Increased wait times are not the result of the bridge’s capacity, but rather changes in customs procedures which have increased the amount of time it takes to process cars entering the United States.

He also reminded Brown that many residents of the neighborhood abutting the U.S. side of the bridge have asthma and other serious health problems that have been linked to exhaust from trucks and other vehicles crossing the bridge. Any efforts to increase traffic would likely harm public health, he said.