A Windsor Star columnist is saying that there’s a recommendation by Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority chairman Dwight Duncan to investigate Canada buying the aging, 89-year old Ambassador Bridge, currently owned by Matty Maroun.
The billionaire not only controls the bridge, but large swaths of land on either side. There are streets in Canada – most notably Indian Road – that now sit with rows of vacant homes, emptied by Matty’s expansion plans as he has continued to push for building his own second span.
Here are the benefits outlined in the Anne Jarvis column for Canada buying the bridge, which could cost north of $3 billion.
One of the reasons for the new bridge is redundancy: if something shuts down one crossing, it won’t shut down our economy …
If Canada owned that bridge, the border would be seamless, with all six crossings between Windsor and Sarnia operating in concert.
If Canada owned that bridge, we could also ensure that it’s safe. Windsor had to close three streets last fall when chunks of concrete rained down from the bridge.
If Canada owned the bridge, we could salvage Indian Road and the surrounding neighbourhood, where the Morouns bought and left to rot more than 100 houses they wanted for a new twin span.
If Canada owned the bridge, governments wouldn’t have to spend millions of taxpayers’ dollars defending themselves from the Morouns’ lawsuits.
And we could build the new bridge.
Both the United States and Canada are working on building a new Gordie Howe International Bridge, but the timeline keeps getting pushed back – now, practically, to 2022.
More details – including how the initial talks have progressed so far – here.
