Opinion: Mich. Lawmakers, a New Bridge Crossing

President

Ontario Trucking Association

This Opinion piece appears in the April 19 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

The future of the new, publicly owned bridge at Windsor-Detroit rests with the Michigan Legislature. By June 1, we will know whether the Detroit River International Crossing — or the Gordie Howe Bridge as I call it — will be built, or whether it will be shelved and, perhaps never constructed, or at least not in the lifetime of most of us.

All three levels of Canadian government are solidly behind DRIC. Ontario has started construction of the new freeway linkages. However, the Michigan Legislature has passed a law mandating the Michigan Department of Transportation to provide state legislators by May 1 with “investment-grade” traffic data and indications from the private sector of serious interest in partnering to build all or parts of the project.

Michigan also needs a legislative fix to allow for public-private partnerships, or P3s. A successful P3 arrangement could remove any need for taxpayers’ money to be used to build the bridge. The law states that it is the intention of the Michigan Legislature to approve or disapprove DRIC by June 1.

Currently, only one bridge links the single largest gateway for commerce between the world’s two largest trading partners — the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, whose owners say they want to twin their bridge.

I have no problem with privately owned infrastructure. If we ended up with two efficient crossings, I’d say the more, the better. But that is not what opponents of DRIC are proposing.

Under their plan, the Ambassador Bridge would retain its monopoly as the sole bridge linking Windsor and Detroit — and we would be stuck with the current problems associated with the present lack of freeway-to-freeway access and the redundancy needed to keep the border open in the event of a security breach.

Moreover, saying you want to build a second span and actually getting the approvals to do it are two different things.

As it stands now, the Ambassador Bridge does not have the necessary approvals. If it were to file a serious application, it might get them, in time — or it might not.

The U.S. Coast Guard recently announced it was terminating the Ambassador Bridge’s permit-application process because of a lack of movement by the bridge’s owners on a number of critical issues identified last June.

DRIC is the only actionable project at the moment. It must be built for the sake of economy and security. There is a lot at stake for Canada and the United States, and for Ontario and Michigan.

Sure, trade has fallen off because of the recession, but it is beginning to shows signs of rebounding. We need to think ahead.

According to the U.S. Final Environmental Impact Statement, DRIC will create about 40,000 combined direct and indirect jobs during construction, bring billions of investment dollars to the area and help secure the future prosperity and relevance of the region where there is perhaps more integration of manufacturing processes than anywhere else in the world.

In a recent speech, Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne said his company “supports the partnership between the governments of Michigan and Ontario — as well as Canada and the United States — as they work toward securing a new gateway at Detroit/Windsor.”

“The automotive industry continues to support the proposed Detroit River International Crossing,” Marchionne wrote. “This proposed new crossing would add redundancy and unimpeded access from Ontario’s highways to Michigan’s interstates. . . .

“In the coming months, the Michigan Legislature will consider a bill to authorize construction of the new DRIC bridge. It is my sincere hope that the Legislature will pass the bill by the June 1 deadline,” Marchionne wrote.

“The need for an additional crossing to handle current and future trade flows is widely acknowledged,” he added, “and it is imperative that this new crossing be completed as soon as possible. It’s important to our collective future!”

Truckers agree. A recent survey of Ontario Trucking Association members found that 73% of respondents ranked Windsor-Detroit as the most important Ontario-U.S. border crossing in terms of overall economic influence.

In addition:

n Almost 60% said they expect that crossing to have the most delays and the most congestion when the economy recovers.

n When asked which border crossing ranked highest in terms of needed infrastructure improvement, 68% said Windsor-Detroit.

n In terms of the specific infrastructure improvements most urgently needed to avoid future congestion problems at Windsor-Detroit, 79% said a second bridge.

n Given a choice between DRIC and a twinned Ambassador Bridge, 71% favor DRIC.

Given the amount of trade flowing between Michigan and Ontario by truck — about $26 billion, even in a down economy last year — DRIC is essential not only for Ontario and the Ontario trucking industry’s long-term economic prospects but for Michigan as well.

In 2009, 83% of Michigan’s $14 billion in exports by all land modes to Ontario moved by truck.

The Ontario Trucking Association, Toronto, is Canada’s largest provincial trucking association. The author also is president and CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, Ottawa.