Canada Offers Detroit $550 Million Loan for Detroit/Windsor Bridge Project
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Canada Offers Detroit $550 Million Loan for Detroit/Windsor Bridge Project

Windsor : Canada | Apr 30, 2010 at 6:29 AM PDT
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Doug Baird

Cash strapped Michigan has been offered a $550 Million Dollar Loan by Canada to commence the Detroit/Windsor Bridge project. The bridge would be the major crossing between Canada and the United States.

With an almost integrated market, Canada and the U.S. are each other's largest trading partners, with $1 Billion in daily trade crossing the border.

The loan offer was made on Wednesday by Canadian Transport Minister John Baird to Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm in a letter.

The Canadian cash will help Michigan to get the project started on its side of the border including an interchange on Interstate 75.

"This is the most, not one of the most, this is the most important infrastructure project across Canada today and is one of the most important in our history," Baird said.

"The time to get moving is now. The time to create jobs is now."

Canada expects the project to create some 12,000 jobs in the Windsor area, an area with some of the highest unemployment in Canada.

The $5 Billion Dollar project, which will connect Ontario Highway 401 with Interstate 75 was in danger of being held up with politics. By providing this loan there is a good chance that the project will get the green light by Michigan's legislature.

Baird said that the only way to get this project going, based on discussions between Michigan's Governor and Gary Doer the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S., was for Canada to help out financially. This was the only way to move the project forward, according to Baird.

The bridge, which is scheduled for opening in 2014, will create thousands of jobs in the Windsor area.

Update:

While there are those on both sides of the border that welcome the new bridge, the Ambassador Bridge Company, owned by Michigan Billionaire Matty Maroun, calls the offer a bribe. Michigan law makers have to vote on the deal by June 1st if it wants to move ahead with the project.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/story/2010/04/30/wdr-bridge-crossing-reaction-100430.html



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International Crossing - Ambassador Bridge, joining Michigan and Ontario
Karl Gotthardt is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and is an Anchor for Allvoices.
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READ MORE: Canada, United States, Infrastructure Projects, International Bridge, Highway 401, Interstate 75, John Logie Baird, Gary Doer, Loan, job creation, international trade
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Post a Comment Comments: 6
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Posted By marianmo marianmo | about 3 years ago
this is a good move, the old bridge needs replacing
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Reply By albertacowpoke Karl Gotthardt | about 3 years ago
marianmo ya mean Mr. Harper is doing something right? Where is the TARP money for this project though on the U.S. side?
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Posted By slydog Andy Mathisen | about 3 years ago
On the surface, this seems both a heartwarming and a neighbourly offer. Both sides would benefit from job creation and both trade and tourism would be made smoother. On the downside, however, is finding economic solutions in mega-project thinking that simply increases the use of cars in both cities (much like the "twinning" of the Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver!) Would not a GREEN version of this be an eco-friendly system of transport be a better project? Perhaps light rapid transit for both goods and people? Oops..I forget I'm talking about an area in North America where most vehicles are manufactured! Me bad..Oil & gas consumption and jobs good! Right?

By the way..has the US paid back all of that $5 Billion they robbed from us over the Softwood lumber fiasco. That screwed our forestry industry BUT GOOD! Some of these politicians have short or selective memories me thinks? Unemployed woodworkers do not, I assure you.
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Reply By albertacowpoke Karl Gotthardt | about 3 years ago
Andy, no that part of the softwoodlumber deal was never addressed again. Maybe if there is enough foresight they may be able to add the rail system to the bridge. I think the whole green issue is complicated.

Even Obama caved in on drill baby drill off the coast, which has now been stopped pending further investigation. That took a major environmental disaster. I find government is usually reactive rather than pro-active.

Both Windsor and Detroit are high unemployment areas in their respective countries, so I don't begrudge them this project.
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Posted By DavaCastillo Dava Castillo | about 3 years ago
There are some political considerations regarding the current bridge that is privately owned and operated by Mr. Moroun. His bridge could lose revenue with a second new bridge being constructed and coordination of the traffic.

Moroun worries that alerting drivers to congestion at the Windsor crossing would discourage use of the Ambassador, the only bridge whose tolls end up in Moroun's pocket.

"I don't care which bridge people use," Steudle Director of Michigan Dept. of Transportation explains. "My interest is in moving people and goods in and out of Michigan efficiently. But to Mr. Moroun, the Blue Water Bridge is competition, and drivers who use it represent lost revenue."

This difference in perspective explains, in a nutshell, how crazy it is for the busiest border crossing between the United States and its No. 1 trading partner to be in the hands of a private owner -- any private owner. Additionally, a private bridge is not required to adhere to as strict safety and operating standards as a public bridge.

It also explains why the U.S. and Canadian governments are so determined to build a second bridge across the Detroit River a few miles south of Moroun's -- and why Moroun is about as "enthusiastic for this project as a cattle rancher at a vegan convention."

Andy

I agree with your idea of looking for "green" alternatives, but in this case I doubt it would get any support because one of the primary reasons for the bridge is for trucking transport of commercial goods between the countries. There was some discussion about whether container transport via waterways could replace commerical trucking, but I have not read a definitive report of an accurate comparison in terms of cost or efficiency.
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Posted By albertacowpoke Karl Gotthardt | about 3 years ago
Thanks for the additional info a211423. I doubt that a waterways system would be efficient enough to cater to many just in time delivery aspects of the trade, especially in the auto industry.

Interestingly enough the Ambassador Bridge has been in private hands since its opening in 1929.

Here is a history of the Ambassador Bridge for those interested:

http://www.ambassadorbridge.com/!Downloads/History.pdf
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