Michigan lawmakers threaten investigation into Windsor-Detroit border process
DETROIT — There’s a rumble of thunder coming from Michigan state headquarters over the status of a new crossing at the busiest border point between Canada and the U.S.
A handful of Republican state lawmakers are demanding to know how much progress has been made at the Detroit-Windsor, Ont. gateway after spending nearly $17 million studying the issue, Associated Press reports.
bridge is expected to be built
A bi-national task force — made of state, provincial, and federal lawmakers and transportation officials on both sides of the border — has been charged with selecting the site of a new border crossing. Although an official announcement won’t be made until next year, most experts close to the issue say the task force has effectively made its decision.
In November, the Border Transportation Partnership eliminated two of the three leading proposals — the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership’s Jobs Tunnel project and the Ambassador Bridge’s plan to twin the existing bridge — and instead announced that a new crossing would be built across the Detroit River in an area about 3 km southwest of the Ambassador.
However, according to AP, four GOP lawmakers say things aren’t moving fast enough and are raising question about the process itself. They’ve sent Michigan Department of Transportation Director Gloria Jeff requesting a meeting within 30 days to give them an update on the status of the international border crossing study.
If the department does not meet the deadline, the politicians said they would schedule hearings to investigate.
Reps. Phil LaJoy said his office has received calls of concern from “organizations that have submitted proposals for a new crossing” to the binational partnership. Those groups also allege their plans weren’t fairly considered.
“What have they done and where are they now? That’s what we want to know,” LaJoy told AP.
In an interview with TodaysTrucking.com last fall, Marge Byington, government affairs director for the DRTP team, said that inside sources had told her the process for selecting a new crossing had been hijacked by special interests strongly opposed to the Jobs Tunnel.
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