WINDSOR, Ont., (Feb. 16 2005) — The Province of Ontario and the Canadian Feds are launching an Environmental Assessment on the International Crossing project, which proposes a new crossing over the Detroit River.

The EA phase will include the completion of environmental and technical work to allow the governments to decide the location of a new or expanded crossing between the truck-heavy border cities of Windsor, Ont. and Detroit “in an environmentally responsible manner.”

The official EA — which will be conducted in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration — will review the alternative solutions, with consideration given to environmental and community effects. The group will also recommend the location for a new or expanded crossing.

While a bilateral agreement between provincial, state, and both federal governments will ultimately decide the type of alternative crossing — be it a new bridge, twinning of the current Ambassador Bridge, or converting the underwater rail corridor into a two-way truck tunnel — the city of Windsor has already given unanimous support to a proposal unveiled earlier this year.

As TodaysTrucking.com has been reporting since the beginning of January, many local residents and City Council are pushing for a new bridge and truck route proposed by NYC traffic engineer Sam Schwartz.

Schwartz’s plan would see a new “central” crossing built just a few kilometers west of the Ambassador, and a redesigned truck route that takes commercial traffic off Huron Church Rd. and onto a new highway that would border southwest Windsor and the suburb of Lasalle.

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis recently told Today’s Trucking this is the proposal the city has settled on, adding that city environmental lawyers have given the plan a preliminary thumbs-up.

Canadian officials overseeing the EA stated that careful consideration will be given to the information provided in the Schwartz Report.

URS Canada and the Corradino Group have been selected to lead the Canadian and American work respectively.

This work will be completed by the end of 2007, leading to the possible opening of additional crossing capacity by 2013.

The public will also have the opportunity to participate in the EA process, with the first of five rounds of public meetings planned for April 2005. In addition, local advisory councils on both sides of the border will provide the public, the private sector and community groups the opportunity to comment throughout the Environmental Assessment phase.

However, the EA process is frustrating for some industry groups who hoped to expedite approval of Schwartz’s proposals. Canadian Trucking Alliance CEO David Bradley recently expressed his displeasure with the 2007 date for the final report.

“It’s still frustrating that two more years of study and consultation is required; it is a torturous road we are traveling,” he said.

Bradley suggested that it’s time environmental assessment legislation in both Canada and the U.S. was reviewed. For the Windsor EA, three different acts need to be satisfied — the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act and the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act.

“If we can’t get a bridge built in this day and age with the threat of terrorism and trade disruption hanging over our heads,” he said, “what does that say about our governments’ ability to protect the interests of our citizens or to embark upon any meaningful plan for infrastructure renewal?”