A group of 16 construction and transportation organizations Thursday urged the Obama administration to swiftly approve construction of a new bridge crossing between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.
Michigan voters cleared the way for the bridge’s construction in November’s election, rejecting a measure that would have required a separate vote on building a new span to compete with the 83-year-old Ambassador Bridge, the region’s main trucking connection between the two countries.
“The new bridge will serve as a much needed alternative at the busiest U.S.-Canada commercial border crossing,” the groups wrote to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
More than 8,000 trucks use the Ambassador Bridge daily, which carried $120 billion of trade in 2011, the groups wrote, adding that congestion is only going to get worse in the next 30 years, with truck traffic at the Detroit-Windsor border expected to more than double.
The groups that signed the letter included the American Highway Users Alliance, the Associated General Contractors of America and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
Click here to view the full letter. (PDF; Associated Equipment Distributors’ website.)
