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Snyder Says No Taxpayer Dollars To Build Bridge To Canada

PONTIAC (WWJ) - We've seen the bridge company ads warning taxpayers that a government backed international bridge to Canada will cost taxpayers big bucks -- but is that true?

WWJ's Pat Sweeting spoke with the governor.

"You'll see it when the bill gets introduced, that actually in the legislation that we're going to ask for, it will specifically talk about how no Michigan dollars will be borrowed for this project," says Governor Rick Snyder.

During a stop in Pontiac the governor says that our credit will not be used at all.

Canadian dollars will aid in building connector roads from I-75, no company has been selected yet, that process to be carried out by bridge authority, created under the new legislation.

Governor Snyder says despite cries to the contrary, no taxpayer dollars will be used to build a new bridge to Canada.

The governor says the building will be done by a private company and the state will have no legal liability.

"There will be no legal liability on the state of Michigan to invest any dollars in this project...it will actually be built and operated by a private party, I mean that is one of the things I'm happy to communicate," adds Snyder.

"Sometimes people say well it's the public versus private, well, literally this bridge would be built by a private party and operated by a private party, financed that way, the underlying resources for the interchanges are where the Canadian dollars are going to help us build the interchange to I-75, the connecting roads, just like we would in other projects," says Snyder.

The governor says he prefers the bridge to be built Downriver, but no private company has yet been chosen to build it.

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