The current
Ambassador Bridge, which is 80 years old, is the busiest border crossing
in North America, handling 1.6 million truck crossings each year.
Manuel Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge, is one step closer to
building a second span of the international crossing between Michigan
and Windsor, Ontario. Moroun received the OK from the Canada Border
Services Agency to build a new customs plaza in Windsor, according to reports by The Globe and Mail.
The next step to building the private bridge is to submit an
environmental impact statement to Transport Canada for review. While the
statement was prepared in December 2007, the Canadian government wanted
approval from the Canada Border Services Agency before reviewing the
report.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Matthew Moroun, Moroun's
son, said they hope to have the environmental impact report reviewed
this year, but he expects there to be bureaucratic obstacles.
"I'm sure Transport Canada is trying to figure out what banana peel to
throw into the mix," Moroun told the publication. "I'm not a babe in the
woods, and I know Transport Canada is going to tap dance and do
whatever they can to delay our environmental case until next year, but
the ball is squarely in their court."
But James Kusie, spokesman for Transport Minister John Baird, told the
publication that Transport Canada is waiting to receive additional
information from the Ambassador Bridge Co. before the proposal is
reviewed. "Despite several requests, the Ambassador Bridge Co. has not
yet submitted the necessary information to Transport Canada so that the
department can undertake the review of its environmental assessment
submission," he said.
Kusie also said the Canadian government prefers the Detroit River
International Crossing project, another bridge span that would be
publicly-owned. "We believe it is in the public interest to construct a
new Detroit River crossing that is subject to appropriate public
oversight," he told the Wall Street Journal.
However, the DRIC project is wrapped in politics of its own. Lately,
proponents of the project are trying to get public-private partnership
legislation that would permit the Michigan Department of Transportation
to enter into a relationship with Canada and a private sector
transportation project developer/financier.
Source: Truckinginfo
