The Mich-Can International Bridge Co. has teamed up with an engineering and construction company to propose a privately built second bridge between the United States and Canada in Detroit.

The proposal encourages a so-called "third crossing" (after the existing bridge and tunnel) to be built a few miles south of the Ambassador Bridge to improve access to highways on both sides of the Detroit River.
"As trade between the United States and Canada has swelled in recent years, so have long lines to cross the Detroit River," said Reginald Turner, a member of the management team for the Mich-Can International Bridge Company. "It can now take more than an hour to cross the Ambassador Bridge, and 12,000 trucks a day are forced to use an inefficient route to the bridge. We can lighten the load for many of them."
The Mich-Can proposal calls for this third crossing to be built and managed privately for a period of years. However, in contrast to the existing bridge, which has remained privately owned since opening more than 70 years ago, the Mich-Can bridge would become publicly owned and maintained once construction loans have been paid. Public authorities in both the U.S. and Canada would share ultimate ownership.
"Governments in both the United States and Canada are now seriously considering a third crossing," said Ross Clarke, management team member and past president of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce. "Our team has been studying this need for a new bridge, and how we could best answer it, for more than four years now, and we're absolutely convinced that the growth in international trade makes a new bridge necessary."
"We believe that a strong public-private partnership is the best way to get this bridge built quickly, cost effectively and professionally," said Jim Carroll, a senior director with Fluor Daniel, the engineering and construction company that would build the bridge. "But we also believe that, in the end, this bridge is being built to serve the public."
An international partnership of governments announced plans last week to begin a feasibility study aimed at improving traffic flow at the Windsor-Detroit border. Mich-Can offered its expertise to the governments to assist in the process and suggested that the seven-year pre-construction timeline reported in the media could be expedited.