New Windsor-Detroit bridge expected to get ‘green’ light today

OTTAWA — Transport Canada is expected to announce that it has won approval for the its Environmental Assessment of a new public bridge between Windsor, Ont. and Detroit, The Windsor Star reports.

Government sources told the paper that the official announcement will be made today on the seemingly never-ending EA process, which has been dragging on for nearly a decade.

This is the last major legal barrier in the way of Canada’s plans to begin work on the new crossing into the U.S., although it’ll be a while before shovels are in the ground.

Cabinet approval is the next stage (Federal Conservatives leaders have publicly backed the Detroit River International Crossing [DRIC] from the start). And the public-private undertaking still needs secure partners to finance, build and operate the bridge.

Then, there’s the state of Michigan, which is divided in its support for the binational crossing.

In late October, legislators voted at the 11th hour to keep funding for the project active, but the bridge’s critics also moved to cap the amount of government funds and prohibit any contractual agreements or activities that bind the state to construction work.

The approval, the Star reports, also covers the new Brighton Beach plaza that would service the bridge, as well as the much-debated, $1.6-billion, six-lane, below-grade Windsor-Essex Parkway.

The wheels are already in motion on that latter project, however. The road is effectively a truck bypass route that loops around the congested Huron Church-Talbot Rd. corridor en route to Brighton Beach and the new international bridge.
The news isn’t likely to impress the officials at the privately held Ambassador Bridge. Its owner, Detroit trucking mogul Matty Mouron has been a vocal and active critic of the public bridge and has pledged to build his own new twin span right next to the current 80-year-old Ambassador.

There has been some debate on both sides of the border whether he has the necessary approvals to forge ahead with those plans, however.

 


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