BRIDGE TAKES OFF IN DETROIT
$150 million already spent in U.S.
Any skepticism the Gordie Howe International Bridge will become reality was peeled away Wednesday during a tour of the crossing ’s future plaza, where preparation work is nearly complete in Windsor and in full swing across the river.
A close-up view was offered by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which noted over C$350 million has been spent to date by the Canadian government — including $150 million on the U.S. side for the long-awaited border bridge project.
Dozens of homes and business properties that were still standing a few months ago across the Detroit River in the community of Delray have been cleared away, while utility relocation and early work for a new interchange connection linking the bridge to the I-75 has begun.
Canada has also contributed US$15.5 million to a $56.5-million I-75 reconstruction project so that it will not have to be done twice when a new three-kilometre feeder road connects with the Howe bridge plaza.
Work was noticeable during the tour in several locations throughout the new plaza site in southwest Detroit where railways tracks were being shifted, utilities relocated and ground preparation started.
A spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, which is leading the project on the U.S. side, said 93 per cent of the required 636 properties is “under control,” either through acquisition or expropriation. More than 200 properties have already undergone demolition.
“We are on schedule,” said Jeff Cranson, spokesman for MDOT. “We continue to win cases in court … demolition is ongoing, so it all spells really good news.
“This really important project that will make lives easier for the community, travel — and especially movement of commerce — is going to take hold. We expect real work to begin on the bridge itself in 2018. It’s only a matter of time that we will have a freeway-tofreeway connection between U.S. and Canada at the most important trade crossing.”
Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun has moved to legally stop the Howe bridge. He owns 20 properties required for the project. But lawyers for MDOT have already entered Wayne County Circuit Court to expropriate the Moroun property and they are confident they have a strong case.
“We are comfortable, through the process of litigation, we will have all the properties when needed as construction proceeds,” said Andy Doctoroff, a spokesman for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder assigned to work on the bridge project.
While hundreds of homeowners in southwest Detroit have reached agreement with MDOT, have relocated and seen their homes demolished, one property owner crashed the tour Wednesday to express his anger over the amount of money he got for his house, where his family has resided for 61 years.
“We were promised a fair price for our house and replacement value,” said Steve Toth, adding he’s received an eviction notice and been offered $53,000. “I want to be treated fairly and don’t think I have been. A lot of people have not been treated well on this since Day 1. Pay me my money so I can leave.”
Doctoroff countered officials are very familiar with Toth, met with him numerous times and continue to offer support for his relocation.
Getting every property required in Detroit is the next step for MDOT, while an election next fall for a new governor in Michigan to replace term-limited Snyder may also pose a political threat to the project.
But Doctoroff indicated the agreements the state signed with Canada are legally binding and the project is too far along, so it’s unlikely to be politically derailed in Michigan.
“You can’t predict the future for certain, but this project is a go,” he said. “Everything we know today, there will be no delay. We are getting properties we need, winning lawsuits and the communities are co-operating.”
All properties required in Windsor are fully owned by the bridge authority, while final work is being completed on the plaza preparation.
Bridge authority officials insist a contractor will be selected by May and first stages of construction will start next fall.
While a price tag for the bridge project has varied between $2.1 billion and $4.5 billion, there will be no clear cost estimate until the winning bid is selected among three shortlisted global consortiums in the spring, WDBA officials said.
While the federal government has been spending on site preparation and property acquisition, the private-sector contractor will pay for the bridge project and recoup the money through tolls.