Morning Read: Obama, Owens want $173 million for border project
The Watertown Daily Times is reporting that Rep. Bill Owens and the White House are partnering to push for a new border crossing station onWellesly Island in the Thousand Islands region of the North Country.
Officials at the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority have been pushing for the project, which they say will cut down on travel time for commercial and passenger traffic and make the crossing more attractive for trucks. They say the project has been needed since staffing increased dramatically following the 9-11 attacks.
“This is good news for both tourism to the region and for truck traffic over the bridge,” W. Howard Kelly, director of the Capital Corridor Trade and Tourism Initiative of the TIBA, said in an e-mail.
According to the Times, the fact that President Barack Obama has included the project in his funding request makes it far more likely to survive the budget process in Washington.
Tags: border, border issues, st. lawrence valley, thousand islands, transportation, wellesly island
I suppose, but let’s hope they don’t build an ugly, evil-looking, oppressive fortress like the thing in Massena. What a welcome mat to put out…I feel like I’m checking into a prison when I come through, so how can this be good for tourism?
Right on, ttm. Why is it we seem bound and determined, in both the public and private sectors, to make our buildings look like Bulgarian communist prison architecture?
How about the $173 million for education instead of border security junk.
I didn’t know Obama could even see an amount as small as $173 mil.
I think, and it’s just my opinion, that the Massena POE was designed with past Indian issues in mind. When you are dealing with heavily armed people you tend to build for a worst case scenario.
oa, yeah you look at some of the architecture that the WPA did in the 1930’s I really like some of it. Then we look at what we have done as far as government building since 1960 and it’s horrible. I wonder what changed?
It’s a great question, Mervel. And it’s not like big box stores are really gorgeous, either.
Based upon the drawing, it looks like it will fall down. If they really need to blow plus $173 million, why not something that looks like an Adirondack Great Camp?
Maybe Foxman will build it?
No they are not where is the aesthetic?
To me beauty should be part of the public good when we look at building things at least with taxpayer dollars but also when looking at what private corporations are allowed to build. The Customs House in Ogdensburg is the oldest actively used Customs building in the US and it is one of the better looking government buildings that we have. I don’t understand how they understood that centuries ago and we don’t today?
Taste has not really improved over the years, eh Mervel?