View source for Peace Bridge

{{Short description|Truss arch bridge connecting US to Canada}}
{{about|the bridge between the US and Canada|other bridges of this name|Peace Bridge (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox bridge
|bridge_name= Peace Bridge
|image= Peace Bridge.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption= Peace Bridge from the Canadian side.
|official_name= 
|also_known_as= 
|carries= 3 reversible lanes of {{jct|state=NY|NY|955B|noshield1=yes|nolink=1}} / {{jct|state=ON|QEW}}
|crosses= [[Niagara River]]
|locale= [[Fort Erie, Ontario]] and [[Buffalo, New York]]
|maint= [[Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority]] (Peace Bridge Authority)
|id= 
|design= [[truss bridge|Deck type truss]] and [[arch bridge]]
|mainspan= 130 m
|length= {{Convert|5800|ft|km|2}}
|width= 
|clearance= 
|below= 
|traffic= 
|open= {{start date and age|1927|06|01}}
|closed= 
|toll= Canada-bound only: $4.00 USD (E-ZPass), $8.00 USD (card), or $11 CAD (card) <ref name="RefTollRates">{{Cite web|url=http://www.peacebridge.com/index.php/autos-passenger-vehicles/tolls|title=Tolls|access-date=2023-09-24}}</ref>
|map_cue= 
|map_image= 
|map_text= 
|map_width= 
|coordinates = {{coord|42.90694|-78.90556|display=inline,title}}
}}

The '''Peace Bridge''' is an international [[bridge]] over the [[Niagara River]] between [[Canada]] and the [[United States]], located just north of the river's source at the east end of [[Lake Erie]] about {{Convert|20|km|mi|1}} upriver of [[Niagara Falls]]. It connects [[Buffalo, New York]], in the United States to [[Fort Erie, Ontario]], in Canada. It is operated and maintained by the bi-national [[Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority]].

The Peace Bridge consists of five arched spans over the Niagara River and a Parker deck-type truss span over the Black Rock Canal on the American side of the river. The length is {{Convert|5800|ft|km|2}}. Material used in the construction included {{Convert|3500|ft|km|2}} of steelwork, 9,000 tons of structural steel and 800 tons of reinforcing steel in the concrete abutments. The Peace Bridge was named to commemorate 100 years of peace between the United States and Canada.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} It was constructed as a highway bridge to address pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic which could not be accommodated on the [[International Railway Bridge]], built in 1873.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

==History==
[[File:Peace_Bridge_from_Fort_Erie.jpg|thumb|Peace Bridge from Fort Erie, with new lighting retrofit]]
The building of the Peace Bridge was approved by the [[International Joint Commission]] on August 6, 1925. Edward Lupfer served as chief engineer.<ref name=nfta-bonf>{{cite web|last=Berketa|first=Rick|title=Bridges Over Niagara Falls:a history & pictorial|url=http://www.niagarafrontier.com/bridges.html|publisher=Niagara Falls Thunder Alley|access-date=7 August 2011}}</ref>  A major obstacle to building the bridge was the swift river current, which averages {{convert|7.5|to|12|mph|km/h}}. Construction began in 1925 and was completed in the spring of 1927. On March 13, 1927, Lupfer drove the first car across the bridge.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Jane |title=Many Voices: A collective history of Greater Fort Erie |last2=Lyons Felstead |first2=Joan |publisher=For Erie Museum Board |year=1996 |pages=144 |language=English}}</ref> On June 1, 1927, the bridge was opened to the public.

The official opening ceremony was held two months later, on August 7, 1927, with about 20,000 in attendance.<ref name=":0" />  The festivities were transmitted to the public via [[radio]] in the first international coast-to-coast broadcast.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}  Newspapers at the time estimated that as many as 50 million listeners may have heard the broadcast.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

The dignitaries who took part in the dedication ceremonies included [[Edward VIII|The Prince of Wales]] (the future Edward VIII), [[Prince George, Duke of Kent|Prince George]], Canadian Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]], British Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]], U.S. Vice President [[Charles G. Dawes|Charles Dawes]], Secretary of State [[Frank Kellogg]], New York Governor [[Al Smith]] and Ontario Premier [[Howard Ferguson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peacebridge.com/news.php?action=viewStory&id=21|title=Peace Bridge Authority|date=7 March 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307215156/http://www.peacebridge.com/news.php?action=viewStory&id=21|archive-date=7 March 2008}}</ref>

When the bridge opened, Buffalo and Fort Erie each became the chief port of entry to their respective countries from the other. At the time it was the only vehicular bridge on the Great Lakes from Niagara Falls to New York. The bridge remains one of [[North America]]'s important commercial ports with four thousand trucks crossing it daily.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

After new toll facilities were installed on the Canadian side in 2005, the Peace Bridge became the first [[E-ZPass]] facility outside the United States. There are no fees for entering the US.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

==Alternatives==
The Peace Bridge is one of the busiest on the [[Canada–United States border]], with over one million trucks crossing it each year and delays of up to almost four hours.<ref name="clui">{{Cite web |url=http://www.clui.org/section/united-divide-a-linear-portrait-usacanada-border-3 |title=Chapter 4: The Watery Boundary |website=United Divide: A Linear Portrait of the USA/Canada Border |publisher=The Center for Land Use Interpretation |date=Winter 2015}}</ref> Other nearby bridges between the United States and Canada include the [[Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls)|Rainbow Bridge]], the [[Queenston-Lewiston Bridge]] and the [[Whirlpool Rapids Bridge]]. The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Peace Bridge are the only Niagara River crossings that allow heavy trucks.

==Customs inspection and toll plazas==

There are customs plazas at both ends of the bridge, with the Canadian plaza the newer and larger of the two.

The inbound customs plaza in the United States has seven lanes for trucks and nine for cars. Pedestrians and cyclists are processed to the left of the truck inspection area.<ref name="peacebridge.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.peacebridge.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=723|title=Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority | first=Roger|last=Ripa| website=www.peacebridge.com}}</ref>

The inbound customs plaza in Canada was designed by NORR Limited Architects and Engineers and completed in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/mediaroom/releases-2010-h139e-6192.htm |title=Peace Bridge Plaza Improvements Complete – Transport Canada |access-date=2012-06-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106050509/http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/mediaroom/releases-2010-h139e-6192.htm |archive-date=2013-01-06 }}</ref> There are 14 booths/lanes for cars and a separate area for trucks (handling five trucks at a time). Pedestrians and cyclists are processed in an area on the right side of the inspection area for cars.<ref name="peacebridge.com"/>

Once vehicles leave the customs plaza in Canada, vehicles approach a smaller toll plaza to pay toll for using the Peace Bridge. Payment for tolls are accepted by credit / debit cards ($8.00 USD or $11 CAD), [[E-ZPass]] ($4.00 USD), or old Peace Bridge tokens. There are no toll booths when entering the U.S. and no tolls for pedestrians or cyclists.<ref name="RefTollRates"/>

===Preclearance===

In October 2012, it was announced by the DHS and Public Safety Canada that a pilot program, years in the works, to preclear all truck traffic from Canada into Buffalo would be commenced. The pilot would start in late December 2012 and run for 18 months, after which the economic benefits would be assessed and its feasibility to make permanent would then be recommended to both the U.S Congress and the Parliament of Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121009/CITYANDREGION/121009186/1002|title=U.S., Canada forge new inspection agreement}}</ref>

==Road connections==
The [[New York State Department of Transportation]] designates the bridge as {{jct|state=NY|NY|955B|noshield1=yes|nolink=1}}, an unsigned [[reference route (New York)|reference route]]. [[Interstate 190 (New York)|Interstate 190]] adjoins the bridge and has a direct northbound off-ramp (exit 9) to it. The [[Queen Elizabeth Way]] begins at the [[Canada–United States border]].

==Commemorations==
[[File:Stamp US 1977 13c Peace Bridge.jpg|thumb|US Peace Bridge stamp]]

* Buffalo resident Emma M. Herold-Haft composed the ''Peace Bridge March'' in honor of the bridge's opening in 1927.
* On August 4, 1977, [[Canada Post]] and the [[United States Postal Service]] brought out a [[joint issue]] of [[postage stamp]]s to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bridge. Unusual for joint issues, the two designs are radically different, with the US print being all blue and the Canadian print in full colour).<ref>{{Cite web |title=13c Peace Bridge single |url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1980.2493.6216 |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=postalmuseum.si.edu |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York]]
*[[List of bridges in Canada]]
*[[List of international bridges in North America]]
*[[List of crossings of the Niagara River]]
*[[List of reference routes in New York]]
*[[Peace Bridge robins]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|author1=Peter R. Eisenstadt|author2=Laura-Eve Moss|title=The Encyclopedia Of New York State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmHEm5ohoCUC&pg=PA240|year=2005|publisher=Syracuse University Press|page=240|isbn=9780815608080}}
*{{Cite news |last=Root |first=Jay |last2=Petracca |first2=Lauren |date=2025-05-29 |title=He Took a Wrong Turn Into Canada. The Price? 3 Weeks in ICE Custody. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/nyregion/border-deportation-peace-bridge.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Peace Bridge (Niagara River)}}
*[http://www.peacebridge.com/ Peace Bridge Authority]
*{{Structurae|id=20001286|title=Peace Bridge}}
*[http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/results.asp?action=browse&q=295&key=53 Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections]
*{{HAER |survey=NY-550 |id=ny2405 |title=Peace Bridge, Spanning Niagara River, Buffalo, Erie County, NY |photos=3 |cap=1}}

{{Crossings navbox
|structure       = Bridges
|place           = [[Niagara River]]
|bridge          = Peace Bridge
|bridge signs    = [[File:Ontario QEW.svg|25px]]
|upstream        = [[Lake Erie]]
|upstream signs  = 
|downstream      = [[International Railway Bridge]]
|downstream signs = 
}}
{{Niagara Falls}}
{{War of 1812}}

[[Category:1927 establishments in Canada]]
[[Category:1927 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Canada–United States border crossings]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1927]]
[[Category:Bridges in Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Bridges over the Niagara River]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in Canada]]
[[Category:Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Parker truss bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Pratt truss bridges]]
[[Category:Road bridges in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Road bridges in Ontario]]
[[Category:Roads with a reversible lane]]
[[Category:Steel bridges in Canada]]
[[Category:Steel bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Toll bridges in Canada]]
[[Category:Toll bridges in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Transport in Fort Erie, Ontario]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Erie County, New York]]
[[Category:Truss arch bridges in Canada]]
[[Category:Truss arch bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Peace symbols]]