New Windsor-Detroit Bridge Deal Set For Friday Announcement

LANSING – More than eight years after the idea of constructing a new bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, first began to see serious movement and after many months of top-secret negotiations, Michigan and Canada are ready to announce an interlocal agreement to authorize the new span.

A source knowledgeable of the deal said Governor Rick Snyder and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper would hold events in Detroit and Windsor to formally sign the agreement when the deal is announced on Friday. The Canadian Cabinet is expected to ratify the deal Wednesday.

Snyder, at an the National Economic Gardening summit in Grand Rapids on Wednesday would neither confirm nor deny a deal will be announced Friday. Other administration sources as the conference also refused to confirm or deny even off the record. One source said a lot can happen before Friday.

Last week, Gongwer first reported that the agreement was complete and that a deal was expected by the end of the week. The possibility that the two sides would use an interlocal agreement as the mechanism to set up an authority that would oversee the construction of the bridge has been known for months.

The interlocal agreement is expected to involve the Michigan Strategic Fund as one of the entities that will be a party to it.

Mike Nystrom, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, said he had no knowledge of an agreement or its details, but said if the reports are true, his industry is thrilled.

“We stand ready to bid on the project and hopefully Michigan-based companies will be involved in building at least portions of the project,” he said. “Our position is let’s get it going as quickly as possible.”

Former Governor James Blanchard, a staunch supporter of the bridge and former U.S. ambassador to Canada, praised the apparent deal. Blanchard proposed and signed into law the statute creating the Michigan Strategic Fund.

“If they use the Strategic Fund, and I don’t know if they’ll name it, but if they do, we created that for important economic initiatives like this, and I think this is a fabulous project,” he said. “It’s the most important infrastructure project in Michigan. The governor is absolutely right to press ahead. I support him 100 percent.”

Blanchard at one time was a consultant to supporters of the project, but said he no longer holds that role.

Some key hurdles remain. It is a virtual certainty that the Manuel “Matty” Moroun’s Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge and fiercely opposes a new crossing, will sue to stop such an agreement. And then there is the proposed amendment to the Michigan Constitution the Morouns are seeking to place on the November ballot that would require a statewide vote to approve any crossing not open to the public as of January 1, 2012.

Nystrom said he is skeptical that the ballot proposal, even if voters approve it, would block an agreement that has the backing of the U.S. and Canadian governments.

“I don’t see how a ballot initiative stops this,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) said he has been assured that no taxpayer money will be used toward the bridge.

The Senate rejected legislation to authorize the bridge last year (SB 410 ) that Richardville sponsored, prompting Snyder to use the interlocal agreement approach. Still, Richardville said he expected the Legislature eventually to take something of an oversight role, assuming the agreement holds up.

“I have always been supportive of another span as long as dollars from Michigan taxpayers aren’t used,” he said.

Snyder has been inscrutable for months about his plans with the bridge. His press office continued that stance, despite swirling reports that the deal was done and an announcement coming Friday. Snyder press secretary Sara Wurfel said she could not confirm that information.

Ari Adler, spokesperson for House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall), said in a statement that the Legislature has been clear it does not want taxpayers obligated to pay expenses nor debt on a new bridge.

“The governor says that is not in his plan and we have not seen anything that would lead us to believe otherwise. Whenever the governor announces his plan, we’ll review it. We will be respectful of his authority but, if necessary, also will remind him that only the Legislature can appropriate tax dollars,” Adler said. “If the governor’s plan does not obligate taxpayers, then he may have found a way to accomplish his goal while meeting the Legislature’s demands for taxpayer protection, which is the paramount issue.”

Rep. Paul Opsommer, House Transportation Committee chair, said he wanted to reserve comment until he saw what the governor has planned.

“He’s kept us in the dark,” said Opsommer (R-DeWitt).

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), who represents the Delray neighborhood where the new bridge would land and displace hundreds of residents, said she wants to make sure the governor lives up to his promise for a community benefits package.

That would include keeping trucks off of local roads, putting air quality and health protections in place, the creation of green space and that jobs related to the bridge be offered first to local residents.

She said the package would not require tax dollars, but the private entity that bids on the project would have to do a cost analysis that includes the community benefits piece.

“I don’t think anybody will want to cross a bridge and see poverty and decay to the left and blight and dumping to the right,” she said. “We want to have this benefit everyone and that includes this host community.”

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The interlocal agreement is expected to involve the Michigan Strategic Fund as one of the entities that will be a party to it.

“If they use the Strategic Fund, and I don’t know if they’ll name it, but if they do, we cr