FORT ERIE, Ont. — American officials have confirmed that a new Peace bridge between Buffalo and Fort Erie is out of the question.

The Peace Bridge Authority says it intends to pursue a "smaller" plaza upgrade with its own money, but officially drop the 15-year old proposal for a new companion bridge because federal funding has dried up.

However, the new customs plaza will include seven additional inspection booths. And even though the actual acreage taken up by the plaza will be smaller than originally planned (by about 12 acres) the decrease in size means there’s less red tape to go through so it’ll be built faster, officials say.

At the same time, local senator Charles E Schumer threw his support behind the plan to pre-screen U.S. bound trucks on the Canadian side of the border, a scheme which would expedite much of the $30-billion worth of freight that crosses this border every year. (It’s the third busiest crossing on the continent.)

According to local media outlets, Schumer agrees that moving the screening of U.S.-bound freight to north of the 49th would speed up the inspection process and it would also ease the local residents’ concerns about air quality because there’d be fewer idling trucks.

"Pre-screening trucks on the Canadian side is a game-changing innovation," he said.

He said 90 percent of the trucks going south could be cleared in Canada and suspicious vehicles would be flagged for further inspection on American soil.