7°c Clear
20°c Sunny
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Letter of the Day
A bridge to prosperity
Artist’s rendering of proposed new bridge between Windsor and Detroit. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/ MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION)
Send a Letter to the Editor
-
The Free Press welcomes letters from readers
To send a letter for consideration on our Letters page: Fill out our online form at the link above, or Email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or Fax (204) 697-7412, or Mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.
Re: What's supporting new Detroit-Windsor bridge? (Nov. 5). The answer is simple -- economic prosperity for all of Canada.
The Windsor-Detroit trade corridor is by far Canada's busiest border crossing with the U.S., handling almost 30 per cent of Canada-U.S. surface trade and almost one-third of Canada-U.S. truck traffic (over 7,000 per day). In 2011, Canada-U.S. trade reached $689 billion, of which more than $120 billion crossed at the Detroit River.
In fact, Canada conducts more business with Michigan than it does with any country in the world -- except for the U.S. as a whole.
Presently, 99 per cent of Windsor-Detroit truck traffic crosses the 83-year-old, four-lane Ambassador Bridge. It is the only major Ontario-U.S. crossing without direct highway access and without significant additional and alternate border-crossing capacity for truck traffic.
Over the next 30 years, truck traffic is expected to triple and vehicle traffic to double.
The goods that cross at this strategic border crossing support millions of jobs in all of Canada and the U.S. and can only help to create more new jobs.
A new bridge is needed to support the dynamic, just-in-time-delivery economies that are critical to the competitiveness of the automotive and agricultural industries, just to name a few.
While Canada has offered to fund the U.S. components of the project that would normally be paid by the State of Michigan, it is important to note that those costs will be recouped through tolls.
The bridge itself will be built by a private sector partner, one selected through a fair, transparent and competitive public-private contracting process.
The crossing agreement signed by all partners states that any cost overruns incurred during the building of the bridge itself will be the responsibility of that private sector builder and not either government.
Denis Lebel
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Ottawa
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 12, 2012 A10
More Letters to the Editor
- Back to Top
- Return to Letters to the Editor
Poll
Most Popular Letters to the Editor
- Have your say
- Letter of the day: Beginning of a new way
- Foxes in the henhouse
- Living in their own world
- Outdoor firepits take a heavy toll
- Stadium should be emulated
- Cuts don't work in long run
- Cost of fighting too high
- Have Your Say
- Kale a class act
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.