DETROIT — Michigan officials now say they could see a day where the Windsor-Detroit Gateway has a new private crossing as well as separate, public bridge downriver.

Officials from the Michigan Department of Transportation previously discounted that a new taxpayer-funded bridge would be seen through if the owners of the private Ambassador Bridge got the green light to construct a twin, six-lane span right next to the existing crossing.

According to the Detroit News, two new billion-dollar bridges a few kilometers apart are a possibility.

MDOT engineer Mohammed Alghurabi, a high-ranking official in the binational Detroit River International Crossing study, told the newspaper that although the original intent was not to have two new bridges, two spans are likely needed to meet projected traffic volumes in the future.

Alghurabi told the paper that there is a need 10 lanes in the gateway.
“The DRIC and Ambassador Bridge projects complement one another,” DRIC officials say in a 16-page report.

Ambassador Bridge Dan Stamper responded by saying that DRIC officials are “speaking out of both sides of their mouths.”

Ambassador officials reject the suggestion that amount of capacity is needed in the border region since bridge statistics show that commercial traffic volumes have fallen steadily since Sept. 11.

Both projects are still in the planning phase, although the Ambassador has already broken ground on expanded toll booth plazas on both sides of the border.

DRIC recently announced its recommended route for a new access artery from Hwy 401 to the river. An exact location for the new bridge site has not yet been announced, although a decision is expected by the end of the year or in early 2008.

The Ambassador forges ahead with preliminary work on a new span.
Transport Canada says it has not yet approved another bridge.

Meanwhile, the Windsor Star reports today that the bridge company has begun building pillars and roadbed near the intersection of Huron Church and Wyandotte Street as part of its twin span plans, despite not yet receiving formal approvals from the city and Ottawa to build the new bridge.

If the bridge goes too far with construction before federal approval is granted, Ottawa could enforce Bill C-3, which gives the government power over private bridges, Transport Canada Mark Butler told the paper.

A Windsor city councilor said he wouldn’t be surprised if the government found itself in court if it stood in the way of the bridge’s project.

Bridge spokesman Skip McMahon told the Star the company is considering legal action against Windsor for blocking the demolition of a row of boarded houses the company owns on Indian Road. The Ambassador wants to turn the strip into a “green” space at the foot of the new bridge.

Bridge President Dan Stamper has called city council vindictive for denying permits for the demolition.

— with files from the Detroit News & the Windsor Star

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the Ambassador wrote in to say the company has been granted appropriate approvals “for everything we’re doing in Windsor,” including the new ramp.

The spokesperson also clarified that when asked what the bridge company was doing in response to the city’s denial of permits to demolish the houses on Indian Rd., Skip McMahon said “all options are open.” The newspaper inferred that to mean the company is considering suing the city.