WINDSOR, Ont. — The head of Canada’s largest trucking group solidified his support for a separate, government-funded bridge crossing at the Windsor Detroit Gateway.

Ontario Trucking Association President David Bradley was joined by Gerry Fedchun, executive director of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, in calling for speedy completion of the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) project. 

The statements come days after a U.S. think tank questioned the need for more crossing capacity in the wake of plummeting north-south commercial traffic numbers. 

According to a Windsor Star report, both business leaders support the DRIC project regardless of the private Ambassador Bridge’s plan to twin its current structure. They say a new bridge would provide freeway-to-freeway access on both sides of the border.

Moving goods on Huron Church Road (the current truck route en route to the Ambassador) has "been a pain for years and it remains a pain,” said Bradley.

"We need two crossings, regardless of what the Ambassador Bridge plans to do, because we have to plan for future growth," said Bradley. "Not doing so is what got us into this mess in the first place.

"We need to plan for redundancy and move forward and I don’t really care what the bridge company does."

Fedchun said he believes cross-border volumes will slowly recover — albeit slowly — and the gateway needs to be prepared for when that happens.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador’s next move remains unclear. The company has spent millions developing new customs and toll plazas on each side of the border in advance of a new span, but was recently told by the U.S. Coast Guard to halt the project because it supposedly didn’t get all the authorized approvals.

The company said it intends to do so and will proceed with the twin span project.