Governor Snyder’s International Bridge appears to be a done deal. At least that’s what Windsor says. WWJ’s Kathryn Larson has part one of her three-part series.

By tunnel or bridge, when thousands are crossing every single day — two ways over are simply not enough. And that’s why Canada has taken action.

Canada is literally laying the groundwork for that second bridge as Mayor Eddie Francis explains, “It’s cleared the environmental hurdles on the Canadian side and the American side. And as a result of clearing those hurdles on the Canadian side, as you can see, the construction has already started.” Francis continues, ”… there will be two types of construction: one on a new road bed connecting to the national highway system and that will be a 1.7 billion dollar construction. The homes have been torn down. The trees have been taken out.”

It’s called the Windsor Essex Parkway. And as the Ministry of Transportation Garfield Dales points out the new bridge plan on the map, Mayor Francis says their side is ready to make things happen, without Michigan’s money.

Francis comments on the costs and benefits of the new bridge, “Michigan taxpayers will not be on the hook because of the work of the governor. Michigan taxpayers will benefit from thousands and thousands of jobs that are created as a result of this bridge being built.

The plan puts the bridge about two miles south of the Ambassador Bridge in the Delray neighborhood. The Ministry of Transportation say it will curb a traffic nightmare.

At this point Windsor’s youngest mayor says it’s up to Lansing to fix the final hang up and sign off on the new bridge.

Keep up with the Windsor Essex Parkway on their official site, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Watch Part 2 of this story, here.
Watch Part 3 of this story, here.