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Border battle: Peace Bridge at centre of Canada-U.S. dispute

Travellers can expect long wait times during the holiday season at the U.S.-Canada border.

There's another bridge dispute developing between Canada and the United States just as a planned new Detroit-Windsor span finally clears its last political and regulatory hurdles.

Lawmakers in New York want to scrap the bi-national body that operates the Peace Bridge over the Niagara River that links Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ont.

More than six million vehicles a year cross the 86-year-old span, named to commemorate more than a century of peace between Canada and the United States after the War of 1812. It's one of the busiest crossing points along the Canada-U.S. border and is considered a key economic link.

But some Americans say the Peace Bridge Authority has spent money on upgrading facilities on the Canadian side of the bridge to the detriment of the U.S. side.

According to the National Post, the last straw appears to have been plans for a $25-million truck pre-inspection facility on the Fort Erie, Ont. side, approved by the Canadian and U.S. governments as a way speeding security and customs checks on the thicker, post-9/11 border.

[ Related: Michigan voters clear the road for a new Detroit-Windsor bridge ]

The Post reported New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office wrote Canadian Transport Minister Denis Lebel urging Ottawa to pressure the 10-member bridge authority board's five Canadian directors to expedite approval of upgrades on the Buffalo side.

The letter, written by top Cuomo adviser Howard Glaser, accused the Canadians of "foot-dragging" on improvements at the customs plaza on the American end of the bridge. Glaser said the state government had put forward several initiatives but nothing's been done.

“Unfortunately, that progress is in jeopardy due to the lack of co-operation from the Canadian members of the PBA board,” Glaser wrote in his April 25 letter to Lebel, according to Business First.

The squabbling between the Canadian and U.S. delegations on the authority was highlighted by a stalemate over the Americans' demand that the bridge's longtime Canadian manager, Ron Reinas, be fired, according to Buffalo Business First. The attempt to force Reinas' resignation was tabled by the Canadians.

Anthony Annunziata, the Canadian chairman of the bridge authority's board, said claims the Canadians are blocking improvements on the U.S. side are "absolutely absurd." He suggested the slow progress was due to concerns raised by Buffalo residents about the upgrade's impact on their neighbourhood. Opponents are upset that buildings will have to be knocked down and new roads built, increasing traffic, noise and pollution, the Post said.

Ironically, that kind of disruption was also cited by opponents of the new Detroit-Windsor link. It finally got the green light from Michigan voters last fall despite an expensive lobbying campaign against it financed by Matty Moroun, who owns the existing Ambassador toll bridge. U.S. President Barak Obama formally signed off on it a few weeks ago.

But U.S. board member Sam Hoyt said that doesn't account for an "inexplicable lack of co-operation" from his Canadian counterparts to move forward on the one part of the plan that it has approved — a $20-million renovation of the commercial customs station on the U.S. side.

The flap has prompted two New York legislators to propose a bill dissolving the bridge authority, according to WGRZ News. They want control of operations on either end of the bridge transferred to existing local authorities.

[ Related: New Windsor-Detroit bridge gets Obama's OK ]

The New York legislation would have no more than symbolic impact since dissolving the authority would require the approval of the Canadian and U.S. governments. But it's a sign of frustration on the U.S. side, Buffalo Congressman Brian Higgins told WGRZ.

"People have been hearing about Peace Bridge expansion for the past 25 years, and nothing has been done." Higgins said.

"The Canadian side is completed. And if you look at the new plaza on the Canadian side, it's functional. It's aesthetically pleasing, and it works very, very well. That's what we want for the American side and everybody will benefit from it."

Annunziata dodged questions from reporters about the dispute.

"Because I'm committed to working with our American colleagues to making sure that this works, and I don't want to add any fuel to an already heightened political situation," he said.