Buffalo Rising Online

Nov 3rd 2007, 2:36pm By Bill Zimmermann

Judy Einach and PoliticsNY.net have granted their permission to reprint her interview with PBA General Manager Ron Rienas. The job of this series is to present every side. If ever I get to head up a group like the NRA, Amway, West Valley, or the Tobacco Lobby, I’d want Ron Rienas as my general manager in a heart beat, and Judy Einach as my publicist. They’re good.

The Public Bridge Authority

By Judy Einach

Part 2: Answering Specific Criticism

More from my conversation with Ron Rienas, General Manager of the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority

JE: Folks associated with the Olmsted Conservancy are upset about Front Park. Please explain your understanding of this and how the new US plaza will impact Front Park.

RR: The folks you refer to are mistaken about the history of Fort Porter. Fort Porter was never part of Front Park. It was owned by the War Department. Front Park was created in the 1880’s as part of Olmsted’s plan. In the 1920’s the Peace Bridge was conceived as a lower level bridge. But it had to be redesigned to accommodate a 100-foot clearance over the canal, therefore the bridge had to go up or rise near the US shore.

The War Department sold the canal to the Bridge Authority for $400,000. In 1925 construction started. Fort Porter was still an operating fort with barracks where soldiers were housed. There was an official "Turning Over Ceremony" of the Fort to the Bridge Authority. The land in dispute (with Olmsted Conservancy) was never part of Front Park. The damage done to Front Park related to the bridge includes a road that was put in because neighbors complained about traffic.

The bridge was very popular and traffic clogged residential streets. Front Park’s boundary never went all the way to the shore. The Thruway area was never part of Front Park. The Thruway (I 190) is the canal covered over. Once the new US plaza is in place the earlier damage done to Front Park, including the roads can be undone and the Park returned to Olmsted’s original plan. By closing the roads in Front Park and removing Baird Drive we’ll go back to the original plan and expand the park some. The PBA has committed $2.5 million to Front Park.

JE: Why not choose the northern plaza rather than the current space?

RR: The northern plaza was part of an effort to reclaim land where Fort Porter stood. This plan would have taken many more homes and had a larger environmental impact. Some argued that the homes were of lesser value and the implication was that the people who lived in these neighborhoods were too. But there’s no room for classist arguments. The main traffic, the vast majority of it, off the bridge is southbound. The current choice allows for quicker movement of traffic, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, etc. The northern plaza was an elongated shape that would have more than doubled the time and distance trucks would have spent moving through the PBA property. That and taking many more homes would have had a much bigger environmental impact.

JE: Let’s talk about traffic.

RR: The Peace Bridge is not a truck bridge. Trucks are roughly 20% of the traffic. Traffic is mostly cars. The Grand Island Bridge carries more trucks than does the Peace Bridge and triple the amount of total traffic. Congestion on the bridge isn’t all volume. Customs holds up the traffic. There were 4-7 commercial inspection booths in operation. Now by moving the tolls to the Canadian side there are 5-7 hi-lo booths in operation for cars as well as trucks. On the new plaza there will be 12 hi-lo booths and 13 car booths. To meet these requirements, because trucks are wider than cars, we need a larger, more modern plaza. Consequently the new US plaza encroaches into the neighborhood. But we have every intention of improving landscaping, using attractive noise buffers and using other means to make living near the bridge a pleasant experience. As it is now it’s very difficult for residents.

JE: Air quality is a serious issue. Public health is at risk. What will be the impact of the new border crossing on public health?

RR: The new plan is designed to improve human health by keeping traffic moving. Changes in fuel and diesel engine technology will also improve air quality. 2007 is the first year that every new diesel engine must be a low emissions engine. These engines reduce soot by 90%. They also reduce nitrous oxide by 50%. In 2010 we’ll see the next generation of diesel trucks which will have anti-idling devises that will automatically shut down the engines. There will be auxiliary systems to power refrigerators or other cooling systems. The average life of long-haul diesel truck (the trucks that cross the bridge) is 5-7 years. A truck made today will no longer be a long-haul truck in 2013. It will be used as a short-haul truck someplace else. The entire fleet of long-haul diesel trucks will be transformed in only a few years. It won’t take 30 years to see an improvement.

The Trade Act of 2002 said that in 2004/5 it would become law that every truck entering the US has to have shipments pre-notified to customs. Before there was pre-notification trucks would sit in secondary for 3-4 hours if they didn’t have papers. Far fewer trucks are held up now with paperwork errors. Technological changes in how trucks are searched make a difference. Previously if we were suspicious, a truck would sit 4-6 hours. With the new technology we refer more trucks for closer inspection but now they’re X-rayed. We need less land to do this and it only takes 3 minutes.

Health issues in the US are related to cars and trucks but also to trains and ships which both run on "bunker fuel" or coal oil, the lowest grade of fuel. There’s a train track between the neighborhoods and the river and ships go through the canal. People need to be aware of the train and ship pollution factor.

All of our air quality analysis meets or exceeds EPA standards. Our goal is to clean the air above and beyond EPA standards. The PBA is committed to Buffalo and we’ve established a Community Improvement Plan for Census Track 70. We’ll perform individual home assessments for the purpose of improving the health of the neighborhood residents. We’re performing a study at the cost of $400,000 to study neighborhood improvement and half of this amount is directly related to community health issues. The report based on the study will make recommendations for how to improve the health of the community through environmental remediation including actions that can be taken inside home environments. We have a total of $25 million dedicated to community improvement. Health is a part of this. The other parts are for social, recreational and religious improvements (Rienas mentions a beautiful church that would benefit from restoration.)

JE: Let’s talk more about money. Who’s paying for the new US plaza? RR: The PBA builds for the US government to their standards and leases the plaza to the US government. It’s a long-term lease with the General Services Administration. The PBA uses the lease as security to bond the project. The PBA pays for the bridge and the connecting roads. The newest building on the existing US plaza is 55 years old and is substandard for current needs.

JE: Critics of the PBA say that the Peace Bridge is not a tax-generating bridge while the bridge proposed to be built alongside the International Railroad Bridge would be. How do you answer that?

RR: The PBA pays taxes. It’s the only authority that pays taxes. Whatever amount the PBA pays to the Town of Fort Erie it pays an equivalent amount to the City of Buffalo. Last year the PBA paid $500,000 to Buffalo and an additional payment of $200,000 to the NFTA. Any transportation corridors are not assessed for taxes and that would hold for any other bridge, including one privately held. Federal Highway, NY State DOT, the City of Buffalo have all reviewed the plan for a privately owned bridge further north and everyone of these reviewers found that bridge doesn’t work. It would connect with the Squajaquada which people want to make a parkway which fits with the neighborhood and parkland the road cuts through.

The PBA is funded through tolls, the lease, and we get some rent for utility towers on the bridge and things like that. We also get revenue from the Duty Free Shops. On the US side that shop employs 60 people, most from the surrounding neighborhood. It’s another business in Buffalo. If we didn’t have this revenue the car tolls would double. Even though many more cars cross the bridge, truck tolls are the bulk of toll revenue and contribute to keeping car tolls as low as they are.

Then Ron Rienas turned the table on me and asked, "How much money do you think we generate in tolls from vehicles entering the US?" Challenged I felt uncomfortable. "Entering the US?" "Yes."

I thought a moment and said, "Zero." A big smile filled Ron’s face.

He looked me in the eyes and said, "In all the years I’ve been asking that question you’re the first one who’s gotten it right. Most people say we must take in millions. You’re right. We don’t take in anything from vehicles entering the US."

Ron Rienas sure made me feel smart. I have reason to hope that under his leadership the West Side of Buffalo will benefit from smart decision-making. Smart feels good.