In The News

Michigan House approves Detroit River bridge bill

The Michigan House of Representatives approved a bill that puts a new Detroit River bridge a step closer to reality.

The House moved 56-51 on Wednesday, May 26, to approve legislation known as HB4961. The bill would enable the state to partner with the private sector for the construction, operation and maintenance of the border bridge. The structure would provide an additional link between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, on the Canadian side.

Back in April, the Canadian federal government helped clear Michigan’s financial hurdle by pledging $550 million toward construction of the bridge.

Opposition to a publicly financed bridge has come mainly from Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun and his supporters. Moroun has been trying to build his own bridge next to the Ambassador to expand his operation, but the U.S. Coast Guard recently denied a crucial permit.

OOIDA Director of Legislative Affairs Mike Joyce says a new bridge in the area would help reduce congestion and encourage competition.

“This is a step in the right direction for truckers that haul international goods across the border to have some options besides just one bridge crossing,” Joyce told Land Line recently.

“Hopefully the competition between the two bridges will keep rates lower than having one bridge and one option for toll rates.”

The Coast Guard action against Moroun, the House passage of HB4961, and the Canadian financial offer have seemingly tipped the scales in favor of the public-private crossing downstream.

Critics of the plan, including the vice chairman of the Michigan House Transportation Committee, state Rep. Paul Obsommer, R-DeWitt, say the legislation gives new power to the Michigan Department of Transportation to expand public-private partnerships and tolling to other parts of the state. Opsommer does not dispute the need for an expanded border crossing.

Once a new crossing is completed, it will link I-75 on the Michigan side with Ontario Provincial Highway 401 on the Canadian side, eliminating a congestion problem that the border cities face on their city streets.

Congestion is an understatement. The Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing in North America, currently sees 10,000 commercial trucks each day carrying nearly a billion dollars in cargo.

The next nearest crossing is 65 miles away at the Blue Water Bridge linking Port Huron, MI, and Sarnia, Ontario. The Blue Water is North America’s second busiest commercial crossing with a rate of 6,000 trucks per day.

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