FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 2, 2019
For further information contact:
Liz Lewin
716.422.5375
llewin@martingroupmarketing.com
Niagara Falls Bridge Commission Announces the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and Niagara Falls, NY NEXUS Enrollment Centre will Re-open as Scheduled Following Robert Moses Parkway Overpass Removal Work
NEXUS will resume normal hours of operation at the Whirlpool Bridge and LewistonQueenston Bridge; the temporary lanes at Rainbow Bridge established to assist with the redirection of NEXUS members will be decommissioned
LEWISTON, NY – Today, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission (NFBC) is pleased to
announce that the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge (Whirlpool Bridge) will re-open Monday, May 6th at 7 a.m. as scheduled. In addition to the bridge, the Niagara Falls, NY NEXUS Enrollment Centre will resume normal operations on Monday, May 6th.
The temporary NEXUS lanes at Rainbow Bridge will be decommissioned and NEXUS staff will return to Whirlpool Bridge which will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. LewistonQueenston (Canada Bound NEXUS) will resume normal operations and will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
“The Whirlpool Bridge will officially be back in service on Monday, May 6th, and we would like to thank our customers and the traveling public for their patience and understanding during the construction outage,” said Kenneth Bieger, General Manager of the Niagara Falls Bridge
Commission. “This closure was undertaken to ensure the safety of the traveling public, as well as Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff members, and we are very pleased to see this overpass removal work completed in such an effective and timely manner. Thank you to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as Canada Border Services Agency for their continued cooperation and support.”
Whirlpool Bridge closed on April 1st as part of the Spring 2019 removal of two miles of the Niagara Scenic Parkway, a construction project which included the removal of a 1,700-foot viaduct overpass that crosses directly above the Whirlpool Bridge and its U.S. Customs and Border Protection plaza.
The oldest of the three spans under the auspices of the NFBC, the Whirlpool Bridge was opened in 1897 and purchased by the Commission in 1959. The Whirlpool Bridge is a two deck steel arch bridge that soars 225 feet above the Niagara Rapids, spans 550 feet and has a total length of 1,069 feet. The upper deck is dedicated for rail crossings, while the lower roadway is dedicated to NEXUS passenger vehicles only.
About the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission:
The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission is a unique, bi-national body. Canada and the U.S. are equally represented on the NFBC through the bi-national appointment of an eight-member Board of Commissioners. A Joint Resolution of the 1938 U.S. Congressional Third Session created the framework for the NFBC. In 1939, the Province of Ontario, Canada licensed the NFBC under The Extra Provincial Corporations Act and amended the Highway Improvement Act to authorize the appropriation of land in Ontario for transfer to the NFBC. Initially established to finance, construct and operate the Rainbow Bridge, the Commission proved efficient and effective at its mission. The NFBC’s powers and authority were thereafter expanded through amendments to the Joint Resolution in the U.S., and by the Rainbow Bridge Amendment Act of 1959 and the Queenston Bridge Act of 1959 in Canada. Together, these enactments empowered the NFBC to assume responsibilities for the Whirlpool Rapids (Lower) and Lewiston-Queenston Bridges. Today, in addition to owning and operating three international bridges, the NFBC builds and maintains facilities for Customs and Immigration functions on both sides of the international border. The NFBC is self-supportive, largely through user fees (tolls) and private-sector tenant leases. NFBC is authorized to conduct international commercial financial transactions and empowered to issue tax-exempt bonds in the United States.