DETROIT, (June 24, 2005) — The private company that owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge wants to connect the bridge with the Detroit-Windsor tunnel and more than triple the number of custom inspection booths on its crossing.

According to a report in CrainsDetroitBusiness.com, Detroit International Bridge Co. President Dan Stamper says the company plans to gradually expand the number of booths from the current 45 to about 200 — all to be stationed on the U.S. side of the bridge. The plan for Canadian customs officials working on the south side of the border would be dependent on a bilateral agreement, which to date has been a thorny political issue.

Stamper says the plan alleviates capacity and mitigates some of the truck traffic and congestion being experienced on city streets in Windsor and Detroit. The booth additions would add inspection capacity at the border and provide backup in case of traffic tie-ups or border processing delays.

CrainsDetroitBusiness.com also reports that the company is working with the Detroit-Canada Tunnel Corp. to combine inspection facilities at a location near the bridge.

The joint inspection facility would connect the bridge and tunnel by a dedicated two-lane road that would flank the proposed Riverfront Conservancy Greenway, the Detroit news service reports.

Stamper also proposes that its sister crossing, Blue Water Bridge, expand its border plazas to 200 in order to provide a backup if the Detroit-Windsor crossing were to be incapacitated — a plan that Blue Water Bridge officials dismissed as an “Ambassador Bridge scheme,” CrainsDetroitBusiness.com reports.

— from CrainsDetroitBusiness.com.