U.S., Canada to build new Detroit-Windsor bridge: Report

[hkskyline]

Dispute over future of bridge crossing could jeopardize Michigan road construction
16 September 2008

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan road construction projects could be halted in about two weeks unless state lawmakers settle a dispute involving the future of bridge crossings between Detroit and Canada.

The state Legislature has not approved a transportation budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

A spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation said Tuesday that if a budget deal isn't reached by Sept. 26 the process of shutting down projects would begin.

The holdup is a dispute about whether the budget should allow the state to continue preparations for a possible publicly financed bridge across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario.

Democrats want more leeway to continue preparations than Republicans are prepared to give.

[hoosier]

The new bridge should be able to accomodate HSR. Imagine being able to travel on HSR from Chicago to Detroit to Toronto.

[urbanlover]

USDOT Signs ‘Record of Decision’ for Detroit
River International Crossing

WASHINGTON - Plans to build a second border crossing between Michigan and Ontario have received the necessary environmental approvals from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The “record of decision” (ROD), signed today by U.S. officials, represents the Detroit River International Crossing’s (DRIC) final environmental clearance and allows Michigan to begin right-of-way acquisition and construction planning for the bridge.
If completed, the project - including a plaza where tolls and U.S. border inspection activities will occur, and an interchange connecting it to I-75 - would span nearly seven miles. Under current estimates, the new crossing is expected to be open to traffic in 2013.
Environmental review for the U.S. side of the project, which concluded with today’s ROD signing, began March 24, 2003, with the publication of a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register. A similar review of environmental impacts on the river’s Canadian side conducted earlier this year by Ontario and Transport Canada is nearing completion.
The process to complete DRIC’s federal environmental documentation lasted less than four years, about half the time needed for similar projects of this size, and included more than 100 meetings and public hearings.

http://www.partnershipborderstudy.co...essRelease.pdf

[smokiboy]

Originally Posted by hoosier

The new bridge should be able to accomodate HSR. Imagine being able to travel on HSR from Chicago to Detroit to Toronto.

I definitely agree. Currently you must travel through Sarnia when traveling to Chicago from Toronto. And finally there would be a Toronto - Detroit direct rail connection.

[smokiboy]

Any updates on this project?

[hkskyline]

Ambassador Bridge owner enlists Detroit congresswoman to block federal funding for rival span
7 April 2009

DETROIT (AP) - The owner of the bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, has asked U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick to help block construction of a second span across the Detroit River.

Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun, through his Detroit International Bridge Co., has asked the Detroit Democrat to block federal spending on the project, including in next year's federal budget.

Moroun wants to build a replacement span for his 80-year-old Ambassador Bridge. Federal transit officials, Michigan and some Canadian officials support a new bridge 1 1/2 miles downstream.

Kilpatrick serves on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. The Detroit Free Press says it's unclear if she sent the ban to the committee for next year's budget.

[enkay]

The queues at the Ambassador bridge are horrendous at times, and the tunnel has a pretty small capacity. Yet this selfish buffoon wants to block the new bridge project out of fear of competition?

Welcome to America's free-market capitalism, everyone.

[Onn]

Originally Posted by enkay

The queues at the Ambassador bridge are horrendous at times, and the tunnel has a pretty small capacity. Yet this selfish buffoon wants to block the new bridge project out of fear of competition?

Welcome to America's free-market capitalism, everyone.

You really think the guy is going to get anywhere? Yeah right. The bridge is going up, it does have to happen. The congestion is terrible, a new bridge has to go up eventually.

[hkskyline]

Groups file suit against Detroit bridge project
14 May 2009

DETROIT (AP) - Several community groups and the operators of the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit to Canada are asking a federal court to prohibit the acquisition of land for a new span.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., claims the Detroit River International Crossing, or DRIC project, will force the tearing down of more than 100 homes, churches and businesses in Detroit's Delray neighborhood.

It also asks that the Federal Highway Administration be disqualified as lead agency in the project to build a commuter bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

A Federal Highway Administration spokesman said the agency doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.

The DRIC bridge is competing with a new Ambassador Bridge span.

[mgk920]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Groups file suit against Detroit bridge project
14 May 2009

DETROIT (AP) - Several community groups and the operators of the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit to Canada are asking a federal court to prohibit the acquisition of land for a new span.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., claims the Detroit River International Crossing, or DRIC project, will force the tearing down of more than 100 homes, churches and businesses in Detroit's Delray neighborhood.

It also asks that the Federal Highway Administration be disqualified as lead agency in the project to build a commuter bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

A Federal Highway Administration spokesman said the agency doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.

The DRIC bridge is competing with a new Ambassador Bridge span.

This is another *BIG* reason why the USA desperately needs a 'loser pays the winner's legal bills' civil legal system....



Mike

[hkskyline]

Coast Guard halts new Detroit bridge project
16 June 2009

DETROIT (AP) - The U.S. Coast Guard has told the owner of the Ambassador Bridge to stop work on plans for a new span across the Detroit River to Canada.

The Coast Guard said in a letter Monday it is suspending the permit application process for the Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project. The action includes all final decisions on the Coast Guard's environmental analysis of the project.

The agency says city officials have determined the Detroit International Bridge Co. has not been given approval to build on city-owned property near the Ambassador Bridge. The state also claims conditions of a contract on a massive freeway project involving the existing bridge are not being implemented.

The company says it wants to keep the project moving and is disappointed by the Coast Guard's action.

[hoosier]

Another obstacle. This is bullshit. China would have had this bridge built ten years ago and there would be high speed trains running on it too.

[Huhu]

I don't understand how the coast guard has jurisdiction over construction permits?

[OakRidge]

Originally Posted by Huhu

I don't understand how the coast guard has jurisdiction over construction permits?

It goes over water.

[natarajan1986]

what was the deadline to complete this project

[urbanlover]

Originally Posted by hoosier

Another obstacle. This is bullshit. China would have had this bridge built ten years ago and there would be high speed trains running on it too.

This is good that article was talking about the competeing project by the Ambassador Bridge owner

Originally Posted by natarajan1986

what was the deadline to complete this project

The plan is to start work in 2010 with completion in 2015





State issues border RFPs


July 3, 2009
The Michigan government has issued seven requests for proposals related to a new Windsor-Detroit bridge.

The proposals issued by the Michigan Department of Transportation seek companies interested in winning contracts for bridge design, freeway design and esthetic design. A consultant co-ordinator is also being sought on the U.S. side. Each RFP has a closing date of July 27.

The Detroit River International Crossing project, including a new downriver bridge, is designed to link Highway 401 in Canada to I-75 in Detroit. It is expected to cost up to $5 billion and produce 12,000 full-time jobs.

The project is being challenged by Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun who has been pushing for construction of a twin span next to his 81-year-old bridge.

The state government last week filed a lawsuit against Moroun's bridge company, alleging in part that the billionaire businessman has started building a new crossing without several required government permits.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Ontario earlier this week released a request for qualifications to shortlist teams to design, build, finance and maintain the proposed $1.6-billion Windsor-Essex Parkway, a border feeder highway in Windsor under the DRIC plan

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Stat...108/story.html

[urbanlover]

Windsor land deal near for a new bridge
BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • July 3, 2009

Transport Canada, the Canadian federal transportation agency, said Thursday it was finalizing the purchase of about 100 acres of riverfront land in Windsor to allow the construction of a new bridge across the Detroit River.

Windsor's City Council approved a preliminary measure last week that allowed the federal agency to inspect and test the property. Mark Butler, a spokesman for Transport Canada, said the sale could be completed soon.

Buying the property would allow the Detroit River International Crossing project to take a step toward becoming reality. "It would be a big milestone in the whole project," Butler said Thursday.

The DRIC project would erect a publicly owned span between the two cities about a mile downriver from the Ambassador Bridge

http://www.freep.com/article/2009070...r+a+new+bridge

[hkskyline]

Canadian government purchases land for international crossing
22 July 2009
The Detroit News

Windsor, Ont. — The construction of a second span across the Detroit River is one step closer now that the Government of Canada has purchased nearly 94 acres of land from the city of Windsor.

The land, located in a largely industrial area of the city, is intended to be used for the new inspection plaza for Canada's half of the Detroit River International Crossing.

The American half of the DRIC is slated to be located on Zug Island, in the Down River area, where the state of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Transportation intend to purchase land.

The proposed Canadian inspection plaza will eventually have a surface area of 139 acres, making it one of the largest such facilities in North America.

While both the Canadian and American governments hope to begin construction on the DRIC in 2010, the project has faced stiff opposition from the privately owned Ambassador Bridge.

The Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the 80-year-old Ambassador Bridge, has filed suit against construction of the DRIC, stating that it would destroy the social and ethnic fabric of the Del Ray community, require the removal of scores of businesses and homes and because it would take away 50 to 75 percent of the traffic that now uses the Ambassador Bridge.

[hkskyline]

Elections panel rejects recall of lawmaker who opposes new private bridge over Detroit River
10 September 2009

DETROIT (AP) - An elections panel has rejected an effort to recall a state representative who opposes plans by the owner of the Ambassador Bridge to add a second span.

The Wayne County Election Commission ruled Thursday that recall petition language filed against State Rep. Rashida Tlaib (rah-SHEE'-deh teh'-LAIB) wasn't clear.

Political consultant Adolph Mongo headed the recall campaign against the Detroit Democrat. Tlaib opposes plans by bridge owner Matty Moroun to build a second span across the Detroit River until environmental impact studies are completed.

Mongo says Moroun is a client but has nothing to do with the recall.

Mongo says he expects to resubmit "better" recall petition language or appeal the election commission's ruling in the courts.

[hkskyline]

Latest inspection report parallels previous finding that Ambassador Bridge structurally sound
5 November 2009

DETROIT (AP) - A report on two inspections of the Ambassador Bridge since September 2008 parallels previous findings that the 80-year-old international span was structurally sound but requires ongoing work to curtail corrosion and other deterioration.

The report released to the media Thursday by the Detroit International Bridge Co. addresses inspections conducted from Sept. 29-Oct. 10, 2008, and Feb. 23-25, 2009 by engineering consultants Modjeski and Masters Inc. of Mechanicsburg, Pa.

U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., made the firm's 2007 report public last month after a federal judge denied a request by the bridge company to keep the report secret. Dingell obtained the report under the Freedom of Information Act.

Phil Frame, a spokesman for the private company that owns the bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, said the company did not release the 2007 report because of a written confidentiality agreement with the government.