The Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC), alternatively New International Trade Crossing (NITC), is a multi-national construction project and committee between Canada and the United States to create a new border crossing over the Detroit River. The crossing, as proposed, will connect Detroit and Windsor by linking Interstate 75 and Interstate 94 in Michigan with the new Windsor–Essex Parkway connection to Highway 401 in Ontario. This route will provide uninterrupted traffic flow, as opposed to the current configuration with the nearby Ambassador Bridge, which connects to city streets on the Canadian side.[1]
The project began in 2004, and received approvals in 2007 and 2008.[2]
In 2011, the bridge was tentatively scheduled for completion in 2016, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. It was estimated that the bridge would generate $70.4 million in toll revenues in its first year of operation[3] but the Michigan Senate dealt the plan a setback by turning down a $550 million Canadian appropriation in October, 2011.
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With traffic crossing the border anticipated to grow from 18,500 vehicles a day in 2016 to 26,500 by 2025, the Detroit River International Crossing will provide an orderly flow of people and goods between the two countries.[3] Transport Canada retained the engineering firms, Morrison Hershfield, Davis Langdon, and Delcan to develop cost estimates for right of way and utility relocation; design and construction; and operation and maintenance on the Canadian side of the crossing.[4]
The bridge will connect to the new Windsor–Essex Parkway on its east side. The parkway will be below-grade and have six through-lanes. It will follow (but not replace) Talbot Road and Huron Church Road from a new interchange at the current end of Highway 401 to the E.C. Row Expressway, where it will run concurrently westward for 2 km (1.2 mi). From there, it will turn northwest and follow a new alignment to the border.[5] Initial construction of a noise barrier from North Talbot Road to Howard Avenue began in March 2010. Two new bridges south of the current Highway 3/401 junction are also under construction.[6] Full construction of the parkway is set to begin in August 2011,[7] with an expected completion date of 2013.[8]
The Michigan Senate has not approved any authorizing legislation related to DRIC. The Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop has stated that the Senate will not vote until revenue forecasts are released, reports that are being withheld by the director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. The Michigan House of Representatives has already passed the measure while the bill is called "doomed" in the Senate.[9]
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder supported construction of the DRIC in his first State of the State address on January 19, 2011. His plan would leverage Canadian money to receive a 160% match - totaling $2.2 billion - on funding from the US Federal Highway Administration in a deal reached the week previous to the speech.[10] In August 2011, Michigan State Senator Mike Kowall, when asked by The Windsor Star if enabling legislation for the bridge would currently pass, replied "absolutely not."[11]
In October, 2011, "the Michigan Senate rejected a bill [which] would have allowed the state to accept $550 million from the Canadian government to fund the country’s share of the New International Trade Crossing."[12] One commentator, Bill Mann, noted the rejection, saying "Canada calls the new bridge its biggest infrastructure priority and has even offered to pay for the span. But pesky U.S. special-interest politics intrude once again," as he reviewed a number of "U.S. government actions (and inactions) that show little concern about Canadian concerns". Mann drew from, and U.S. attention to, Macleans' article sub-titled "we used to be friends"[13] about U.S./Canada relations after the Keystone Pipeline, bridge and other "again" insulting decisions.[14]
The most vocal opposition to the DRIC has been from billionaire Manuel Moroun, who owns the Ambassador Bridge. He has sued the governments of Canada and Michigan to stop its construction, and released a proposal to build a second span of the Ambassador Bridge (which he would own) instead.[15] Critics suggest that Moroun's opposition is fueled by the prospect of lost profits from duty-free gasoline sales, which are exempt from about 60 cents per gallon in taxes even though the pump price to consumers is only a few cents lower.[16] On May 5, 2011, a judge dismissed the case, citing a lack of reasoning for it to proceed.[17]
In early June 2011, the conservative group Americans for Prosperity posted bogus eviction notices on homes in Detroit’s Delray district. With the words "Eviction Notice" in large type, the notices told homeowners their properties could be taken by the Michigan Department of Transportation to make way for the proposed new bridge. The group’s state director said the fake notices were intended to get residents to contact state lawmakers, to ask them to vote against the bridge project.[18]
In July 2011, the Canadian Transit Company, the Canadian arm of the Ambasador Bridge,[19] began running advertisements against the DRIC proposal, calling it a "$2.2 billion road to nowhere".[20] The phone number listed for Canadian Transit Company forwarded to a phone number in Michigan,[20] and the Canadian Transit Company previously held its 2011 annual meeting at the offices of the Detroit International Bridge Company.[21] MPP Dwight Duncan advised that he was investigating whether or not the ads violated Ontario's election laws, which disallow public spending by foreign lobbyists.[20]
The Ambassador Bridge's web site promoted the opposition, and the dual Matoun bridges (one proposed), with videos entitled "Know the Truth – Bridge Commercials": "A Bridge We Can't Afford"; "Wasteful Spending"; "$100 Million Dollar Gamble"; "Just Say NO!"; and "Misinformation".[22]
In February 2011, various groups have proposed naming the bridge in honor of Gordie Howe. Canadian politicians have proposed that it be named for the man known as "Mr. Hockey", a native Canadian who played for the Detroit Red Wings.[23] Snyder has "not [been] crazy" about the DRIC name.[24] Such a name change is also proposed to help clear up confusion. The Ambassador Bridge is run by the Detroit International Bridge Company, which is abbreviated DIBC. The Howe name would also be fitting, backers say, because it would help bridge "Hockeytown" to Canada, where hockey is the winter national sport[24].
Sometime afterward, the working name for the project became the New International Trade Crossing (NITC), garnering the endorsement of 139 organizations and individuals.[25]
Detroit–Windsor Tunnel, a car-van-bus link between the two cities