Canada Offers $550 Million For The Michigan Portion Of Detroit-windsor Bridge

By Author: Bruce Wills
Total Articles: 52
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Canada offers $550 million for the Michigan portion of Detroit-Windsor Bridge

On Thursday morning, Gov. Jennifer Granholm informed about Canada's offer to pay for the Michigan portion of investments for the Detroit-Windsor Bridge across the Detroit River. After the announcement the bridge bill was passed in the House Transportation Committee .The bill will be used to design the legal framework needed for the construction of the bridge. The policies related to the collection of tolls and the construction span will be defined but before that the bill will be placed in the House for vote.

The new publicly-owned bridge project

The new bridge project is an effort to build a publicly owned bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, which will cover the river from the Zug Island to Sandwich district in Windsor. The bridge will cost about $2.2 billion and the fares of crossings will be used to get back the cost of construction. Canada offered to pay $550 million and the offer will create at least 10,000 new construction related jobs. The money will be used for road connection to I-75 and to the bridge. The loan will ...
... be paid through toll receipts.

Rep. Pam Byrnes said she will meet the Republicans to talk on the offer and will also look into the legalities involved in the project. There are many in the House who opposed the offer saying the offer has been designed in a way to provide jobs to Canadians and not Michiganians. But many believe it is a cooperative project that will provide jobs to people on both sides of the border.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the offer was a gift to the citizens and it was offered in response to the complaints that the bridge will cost too much to the state. Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel Moroun had plans to construct a replacement close to the previous bridge .He planned to shut down the Ambassador Bridge and use it only for special occasions.

Construction stages of the project

To start the construction of the Detroit River International Crossing Bridge, the Michigan legislature will have to authorize the private-public partnership deal which will design, build, finance and operate the bridge. After the proposal is authorized by both sides, the partnership will select a private company for the construction work with the help of Michigan Department of Transportation and other government entities. Around twenty organizations are interested in the project, and the partnership will also decide the structure and way to operate. A bond sale will be designed to pay for the construction and Michigan Department of Transportation will have to buy the lands for the construction .MDOT expects the construction to start in eighteen months.

At least 1000 people will be displaced due to the new constructions and the land owners expect the state will compensate them appropriately for the losses, for relocation, for the noise, environmental effects and traffic impact. First Latin American Baptist Church in Detroit will have to be displaced but the residents said we are looking forward to the new jobs and redevelopment work.

Hurdles in the project

There are many hurdles in the project .One of the major question is the need for the new bridge because the truck traffic has reduced in the last ten years and second, is the budgetary deficit as the state cannot afford to pay more for the new projects.

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