Canada Ping!
Posted on 04/13/2013 8:57:33 AM PDT by Squawk 8888
LONDON, Ont. — Plans for the new Detroit-Windsor bridge cleared another hurdle Friday when it got a much-anticipated presidential permit.
“A lot of people are very excited. We’ve been in this region waiting for some time for this announcement,” said Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis.
“We all knew the presidential permit wasn’t a question of if, it was a question of when.”
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder made the announcement in Detroit with politicians on both sides of the border in attendance.
But trouble could be brewing as Ambassador Bridge owner and billionaire Manuel (Matty) Moroun filed a civil lawsuit this year to block the permit — which clears the way for construction on the publicly owned bridge to begin — claiming he has exclusive rights to operate the Windsor-Detroit crossing without competition.
The claim is based on an opinion from a law professor at Wayne State University, said Roy Norton, a Canadian consul-general based in Detroit who was a key player in forging the deal to construct the new bridge.
“No legal scholar not in the pay of the Moroun’s seems to share that opinion,” Norton said.
Moroun has been trying to hold up the second bridge, spending millions to block the approvals.
Francis said the decision over whether a second bridge was a go was put to rest last June when Snyder and Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a deal.
“From my perspective that was the green light and everything else was a matter of process and steps that needed to be followed,” he said.
But he did add the presidential permit was a “key” step.
“It is very positive news that the presidential permit has been issued because now if there were naysayers out there, if there were doubters out there, that puts it all to rest today. The permit’s been issued, the work’s going to begin, the bridge is going to be built and everybody can move on and focus on jobs and the economy.”
Snyder called it a good day, saying the permit is about much more than a bridge, but jobs and the future of Michigan.
“We have a $70-billion relationship with Canada. We are best partners and friends in terms of international relations,” he said. “In the short term, the construction will provide thousands of jobs to Michiganders and Canadians. It’s a win for all, long- and short-term.”
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said the priority now is to start construction as soon as possible.
The bridge, she added, will be good for the auto industry.
Why in the world would Windsor agree to this?
5.56mm
Canada Ping!
Auto trade. It’s our busiest crossing because the auto industry of both countries has been integrated since the 1960s.
Agree to it hell, they’re paying for it.
only as long as the new bridge is not located anywhere near the Ambassador - I will never go into that area again even if it adds more hours to go up to Port Huron. Toooo scary.
The Ambassador bridge is a Matty Maroun’s choke hold on north American trade.
Personally I question the constitutionality of one man owning a border crossing.
Another bridge?
How fast do people need to escape Detroit?
I wondered how that ever happened? I'll have to do some research on that bridge I guess.
How fast do people need to escape Detroit?
Rocket speed wouldn't be fast enough for me.
Zug Island. And Souix-san thought the Ambassador area was scary!
Dude, I worked at the RenCen for a while and down-river is way worse. Around RenCen the panhandlers don’t have pistols!
The greater San Francisco Bay Area has seven bridges at last count. Wikipedia lists only five but there are a ton of waterways that feed into the bay.
1. San Joaquin River
2. Sacramento River
3. Napa River
4. Sonoma Creek
5. Guadalupe River
6. Coyote Creek
7. Petaluma River
8. San Pablo Creek
9. Wildcat Creek
10. Oakland Estuary
11. Russian River
12. San Lorenzo River
13. San Lorenzo Creek
14. Gulf of the Farallones
15. Alameda Creek
Remembering my California history, the first ENGLISH explorers MISSED seeing the bay. Obviously they visited the area during the foggiest time, the summer, and missed seeing the entire region INSIDE the narrow bay entrance
The Delray neighborhood is about as bad as it gets in Detroit but the lucky few who remain will get the best possible deals they’re going to get for their homes. The approaches to the new bridge will wipe that neighborhood off the map.
If you look across the river you can see that Canada has been prepping for the new bridge for at least 30 years. Its mostly open space and industrial with a highway extension already built.
The current bridge dumps traffic in downtown Windsor onto surface a street before connecting to the 401. The new bridge will be freeway to freeway. Delays should be reduced with three crossings in Detroit. Can’t forget about the tunnel.
Ahhh yes, Zug Island. Once home of the blast furnaces of the mighty Great Lakes Steel Corp (closed down long ago). I used to be employed there as a time study tech 50+ years ago. It was a wonderment to me that the management of the company welcomed Japanese engineers into our, at that time, state of the art computerized rolling mills. They even let them take photos of the operation. It took no time at all for the Japanese to take the steel production business away from us. Management yielded to the Steel Workers’ union demands for unbelievably generous pay and benefit packages which added to the uncompetitiveness of American steel. I suppose the remnants of those blast furnaces, if any, will be demolished to make room for this magnificent bridge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.