Irate property owner vows to fight plans for new truck plaza
A nearby property owner is vowing to put up a fight if there aren’t changes to the plans for the new Ambassador Bridge truck plaza in Windsor before construction starts as soon as next month. “They show the trucks and traffic (going) right through our property,” said Joe Mikhail, whose company owns a 50,000-squarefoot vacant office building on College Avenue near the bridge. “Do you think I’m going to allow that?” Early designs for the new truck customs plaza show Huron Church Road being redirected near the entrance to the bridge so it cuts between the last two privately-owned properties in the area — a McDonald’s restaurant and Mikhail Holding Ltd.’s multistorey office building that was once occupied by Global Sutherland Services.
The expanded plaza is part of the planned new six-lane Ambassador Bridge span, which received federal government approval in September. The government also gave a green light to the early design for the truck plaza and rerouting of Huron Church Road near the bridge as part of the project’s environmental assessment. The drawings submitted to the government show the section of Huron Church Road under the current bridge will be closed. The northern end of the road would be rerouted to the west at College Avenue to go around the perimeter of the expanded plaza. Mikhail said he’s held a number of discussions with bridge company executives over the years — the last time about a month ago.
“The bridge has told us they don’t require our property or (the) McDonald’s,” Mikhail said. “When I challenged them (as to) how the environmental assessment report showed trucks coming through our properties, they said they would build a wall.” Bridge company officials have offered to pay $1 million for his vacant office building, even though their appraisals have showed it’s worth five times that much, Mikhail said. “We don’t want to be a detriment on something that’s important to the community, but at the same time, we’re not going to be abused by these individuals for their own gain,” he said. Stan Korosec, head of government relations in Canada for the Ambassador Bridge, didn’t respond Tuesday to messages about the plans for the Windsor truck plaza. Mikhail said he was stunned by last week’s bridge company announcement that a $50-million contract for the new truck plaza has been awarded to Titan Contracting. Titan’s president has vowed to quickly start construction.
Mikhail said he’s spoken with concerned McDonald’s Canada executives, who didn’t respond Tuesday to an inquiry from the Star.
The fast food restaurant has been in the same location on Huron Church Road at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge since the early 1970s. For years, that location was the busiest McDonald’s in Canada.
Mikhail said he’s also reached out to Mayor Drew Dilkens to find out the city’s position. Dilkens, who was out of town Tuesday, didn’t respond to messages from the Star, but chief administrative officer Onorio Colucci said the city is discussing such issues with the bridge company. “Obviously, the permit was issued by the federal government,” Colucci said. “They approved what they did. We’re going to work with (the bridge company) as to the terms of the (federal) permit. That’s all I can say at this point.” Mikhail filed an objection to the early design for the expanded truck plaza with the federal government over a year ago, when the environmental assessment was still ongoing.
“All I see is they have awarded the job (to Titan), they have demolished homes, plan to start building and they have a road that goes through our property,” he said.
“And nobody has talked us.”
They ... plan to start building and they have a road that goes through our property. And nobody has talked us.