International Bridge Project Moving Forward Despite Impending Vote
(credit: Josh Chadwick/WWJ, artist rendering / Transport Canada) PART 1 of 3
It's full steam ahead say Canadian officials backing the International Bridge Project, despite a potential roadblock; the November 6th vote on building that crossing.
WWJ's Kathryn Larson goes over the boarder for part one of her three part series.
It doesn't look like much yet -- but a rural field on the outskirts of Windsor city limits -- is the future home of the 130 acre, 30 lane Canadian Customs Plaza.
It's two miles down from the Ambassador Bridge- where Transport Canada's Mark Butler is walking us through the proposal that leads up to the international bridge crossing.
Butler says the waters are still murky - and they don't know what kind of bridge they'll build.
"We want to make sure we get it right. So, we've made allowances 130 acres but we need to have the space to provide for future inniatives," said Butler.
Meantime, 90 percent of the land for the Customs Plaza is already bought up and it's shovel ready. Butler noted on the US side, big things are in the works for the Del-Ray U.S. Customs Plaza.
"Their plaza, in fact, their footprint is a little bigger than our 130 acres," he added.
Butler said the Plaza and Bridge will be built with U.S. and Canadian manpower and products.
"We'll be looking at steel, which is probably the chief component in the bridge - the agreement clearly stipulates that the steel would be sourced from both Canadian and U.S. sources," Butler said.
Michigan's won't need to worry about footing the bill Butler said. (More on that by Windsor's Mayor Eddie Francis in Part 2).
