16 March 2005

Windsor mayor lobbies in U.S. for new bridge

The following article is excerpted from the 15 March 2005 edition of the “Toronto Star”.

Delay is no longer an option on a costly new bridge to break chronic congestion at Canada's busiest border crossing, says Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis, who lobbied U.S. officials on the massive project….

"We need to invest today, we can't wait," said Francis. "Unless we start investing for the long term, manufacturing comes to a screaming halt and companies no longer locate in Canada. These are jobs across the country.

"It should have started a long time ago."

The Windsor-Detroit crossings have been called the "umbilical cord" to Canada's economy, with 12,000 trucks a day ferrying goods worth $140 billion Cdn a year — 25 per cent of Canada-U.S. trade.

Increased traffic and heightened security measures since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have contributed to backups on both sides of the border, at times stretching several kilometres.

Yet there's still no consensus on a big fix. A new international bridge estimated to cost some $500 million would take at least until 2013 to complete and maybe longer.

"We're barely hanging on," said Francis, "and that's not good enough for industry."

Prime Minister Paul Martin and President George W. Bush discussed the issue during Bush's visit to Canada last December and will likely make the agenda at their meeting next week with Mexico's President Vicente Fox in Waco, Texas.

Border delays already cost Canada's economy more than $8 billion a year and Americans are losing at least $5 billion, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce estimates….

In the interim, Francis is supporting a plan by New York transportation expert Sam Schwartz, who proposed in January spending more than $1 billion on road, rail and tunnel construction that could be completed within five years.

Schwartz's plan for a new bridge would cost extra.

U.S. and Canadian officials plan to increase trade and traffic capacity at the border by 25 per cent this year, in part by hiring 30 new officers to speed things up.

The FAST program to pre-approve commercial shipments is also being expanded, with additional dedicated lanes at the Ambassador Bridge.

Meanwhile, Americans are about to start work on a project to streamline traffic in Detroit costing about $150 million, said Francis.

Liberal Senator Jerry Grafstein, who has been pushing to beef up border points for years, blames "political inertia" and competing interests for the lack of action in Windsor and Buffalo-Fort Erie, another major trade route.

"There's been no expansion in over 40 years," said Grafstein, ``and now we've got the additional problem of security.

"Before we were trying to thread a rope through a needle. Now we're trying to thread a highway through a needle."

International border projects are facing 44 competing agencies on both sides, he said, with ownership problems and environmental concerns complicating the issue….