A group of 16 construction and transportation organizations Thursday urged the Obama administration to swiftly approve construction of a new bridge crossing between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.
Michigan voters cleared the way for the bridge’s construction in November’s election, rejecting a measure that would have required a separate vote on building a new span to compete with the 83-year-old Ambassador Bridge, the region’s main trucking connection between the two countries.
“The new bridge will serve as a much needed alternative at the busiest U.S.-Canada commercial border crossing,” the groups wrote to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
More than 8,000 trucks use the Ambassador Bridge daily, which carried $120 billion of trade in 2011, the groups wrote, adding that congestion is only going to get worse in the next 30 years, with truck traffic at the Detroit-Windsor border expected to more than double.