Earliest date for Niagara Falls shutoff would be 2019

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – Tourists hoping for a glimpse of a dry Niagara Falls will have to wait until at least 2019.

Regional New York parks chief Mark Thomas says Wednesday that there’s no funding yet for a bridge replacement project that could involve shutting down the water flowing over one section of the falls by building a temporary structure to redirect it.

Thomas says the project could start in 2019 if federal, state or private funding is found right away.

Thomas spoke to reporters before a public hearing on plans to replace two 115-year-old pedestrian bridges near the brink of the falls. The project could leave the American and Bridal Veil Falls dry for up to nine months while water from the Niagara River is diverted over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

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