LANSING – Governor Rick Snyder took part in a high-level meeting with Canadian Transport Minister Denis Lebel and the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson, in Windsor, Ontario, Thursday, to discuss details regarding the proposed new international bridge between Detroit and Canada.

A spokesperson for Snyder said the meeting was a continuation of the conversations the administration had been having with its Canadian partners and described the meeting as short. And a statement from the Canadian Transport Ministry said the meeting was very productive.

And reached at a Windsor restaurant, Jacobson told the Windsor Star that the different agencies were “comparing notes” on the proposed bridge, called the New International Trade Crossing by the administration.

Michigan officials have been meeting for some time working on details of a potential agreement with Canadian officials on construction and maintenance of the proposed bridge, which include details such as property usage and the length of the agreement.

While officials with Snyder have refused to comment on the talks that have been ongoing, there have been indications that an announcement on the proposal may come this month, perhaps at the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Summit.

Officially, Snyder’s administration still holds out the possibility that action and agreement to move on the proposal may come from the Legislature. The Legislature has done nothing with the proposal since the Senate Economic Development Committee rejected legislation to approve the proposal last fall.

However, the Snyder administration, Canadian officials and others are said to be finalizing some type of deal that would enable authorization of the bridge without approval of the Michigan Legislature.

The Detroit International Bridge Company, the owners of the Ambassador Bridge, are trying to prevent the bridge from being built two miles south of theirs and have begun a petition drive to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would require a public vote on a new bridge.

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