NNY360 reports, the Seaway International Bridge won’t get $1.5 million in aid that was allocated for it in the US House version of the COVID-19 relief bill even though its operator is sustaining $170,000-per-month losses because of a pandemic-related traffic drought. The funding was removed because it lacked the support of the New York congresswoman in whose district the toll bridge is located. As the article details, the bridge appropriation was a target of Republican criticism of Democratic relief spending until it was revealed that it originated with USDOT officials in the Trump administration.
CBC News takes a less-than-flattering look at the US legislative antics over the appropriation. It notes that the bridge — which is co-owned by Canada’s Federal Bridge Corporation and USDOT’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation — is now operating on funds provided by the Canadian government.