Peace Bridge Twin Project Advances in Buffalo

A companion span for the transnational Peace Bridge enters the Environmental Impact Study phase. Also, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved funding for capital and improvement projects that could start this year.

$2 Billion for Port Authority Projects

The board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved a 2006 budget with funding for $1.88 billion in capital projects and improvements.

Out of the $5 billion budget the board adopted in December, the capital money would fund projects such as construction of the World Trade Center transportation hub in Manhattan; restoration of the classic Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens; redevelopment of Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J.; a new rail facility at the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal in New Jersey; deepening of New York Harbor channels; and the reconstruction of the Goethals Bridge linking Staten Island and New Jersey.

The board also approved a 10-year strategic plan with a list of potential capital projects.

New U.S.-Canada Crossing Planned

The planned companion to the Peace Bridge linking the United States and Canada has won early agency approvals and now heads into the Environmental Impact Statement phase.

The New York State Department of Transportation last December approved a plan by the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority to build a second bridge using a two-tower, cable-stayed design. It would join an existing 1937 bridge linking Buffalo and Fort Erie.

The authority's design jury recommended that the design be sensitive to bird migration patterns and for the bridge itself to provide opportunities to integrate public art.

New Stadium Plans Get OK

The board of the Empire State Development Corp. approved plans in January for two new baseball stadiums for the Yankees and the Mets, along with $350 million in publicly funded infrastructure work.

The plans call for a $1.2 billion redevelopment around the existing Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, anchored by the new $800 million, 53,000-seat venue, which the team will finance with New York City Industrial Development Agency tax-exempt and taxable bonds.

The stadium would open in 2009, followed in 2011 by nearly $200 million in city- and state-funded improvements, including 24.5 acres of new parks and four new garages.

In Queens, the $600 million redevelopment plan around the existing city-owned Shea Stadium calls for a new $444.4 million, 42,500-seat venue also set to open in 2009. The Mets will partially finance the stadium using the same city tax-exempt and taxable bonds.

The city and state will contribute more than $155 million for infrastructure work and new surface parking on the Shea site.

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