Detroit Mayor backs off deal to hand over tunnel — for now
DETROIT – After entertaining the idea of handing over control of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel “Matty” Moroun, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has temporarily taken the proposal off the table, reports the Detroit Free Press.
According to the newspaper, the Mayor will delay taking the offer to Detroit City Council. Kandia Milton, Kilpatrick’s liaison to the council, told council members the administration decided to wait until it finalized details of the proposal and signed all the paperwork with Moroun’s Ambassador Port Co. before the council voted on it. No timeline was given.
to wrestle control of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel
Earlier this month, Moroun had reportedly offered the city $30 million for 25 acres of land near the Ambassador Bridge and to take over the lease of the tunnel. The tunnel is owned by Detroit and Windsor and operated by the Detroit & Canada Tunnel Corp., which is owned by Macquarie Bank in Australia.
Another Detroit paper, the Detroit News, reports today that the plan has many other controversial aspects, including a written proposal that states terms under which the bridge company could keep toll revenue from the tunnel and to set toll charges for 100 years.
The move to delay the vote has annoyed some Detroit officials looking for a plug to the city’s $187-million budget shortfall. “We are getting deeper in the hole and he is doing nothing about it,” Auditor General Joseph Harris told the Free Press.
If he were to control the tunnel, Maroun would build a secure road linking it to the Ambassador Bridge. The plan would also move Canadian customs booths to an international centre on the Detroit side of the Ambassador Bridge.
That idea has been rejected by government officials in both Windsor and Ottawa. Anne McLellan, Canada’s Public Safety Minister, told Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis that she doesn’t like the idea of merging customs stations and there are no plans to do so.
— with files from the Detroit Free Press & Detroit News
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