Wow, some readers are very demanding: - "Hope all is well with you. I am surprised not to see you out with a major piece on the Star story about the American side not interested in building a second bridge. No land assembled and grumbling over what was spent studying the idea.
Or is the mother of all blogs coming soon and it is like ordering a sultan's meal, it takes a little longer?"
The truth is that I cannot get too upset over this stuff considering the lawsuits started already and the new ones that are sure to come. It took over a decade to settle the FIRA matter.
More importantly, no one has really discussed the crossing in the context of the Obama snub of PM Harper in Mexico and the American focus on the southern border. That is the main reason that nothing will be done here for who knows how long.
There is no US Federal Government need to do anything since the Bridge Company is handling the border so well. Why would they want to sink more money, after the hundreds of millions of dollars already spent on the Ambassador Gateway project a mile away from a DRIC crossing, to satisfy the economic nationalistic ambitions of the NAFTA-gate Prime Minister?
So that kills the DRIC bridge and the road to the bridge because one cannot build a road to nowhere.
The Star story is nothing more than a repeat of what the Detroit News already reported several days ago and a rehash of past stories about what Michigan lawmakers have already said.
The Detroit News stated:
- "Delray residents wait as new bridge to Canada is debated
Delray resident Kyle Osborne feels like he and his neighbors are in real-estate limbo.
For months, Osborn and scores of other Delray residents have waited to find out whether their homes and businesses are going to be purchased in order to make way for the long anticipated Detroit River International Crossing; a second bridge stretching between southwest Detroit and Windsor, Ontario...
On the American side, the Michigan Department of Transportation has made no movement at all, saying it has purchased no property in the area because of a legislative logjam created in Lansing.
"We have bought zero," said Bill Shreck, MDOT director of communications.
"We haven't purchased any property because in the last two or three budget bills, language has been inserted that keeps us from doing just that." Leading the charge against the bridge is Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, who has called the $1.8 billion span a "boondoggle."
Among his objections were that the bridge would be built with taxpayer money and was based on faulty traffic predictions. Cropsey, who represents the 33rd District, supports plans by Moroun to build a new Ambassador Bridge at a cost of $1.5 billion...
Among his objections were that the bridge would be built with taxpayer money and was based on faulty traffic predictions. Cropsey, who represents the 33rd District, supports plans by Moroun to build a new Ambassador Bridge at a cost of $1.5 billion.
According to the Detroit River International Crossing Project, the bridge, plaza and freeway access to the project would be financed three ways.
The bridge would be paid for by bonds that would be repaid by tolls. The cost of the plaza would be paid by the federal government, and 80 percent of the freeway access costs would be paid by the federal government with 20 percent coming from MDOT."
Naturally, the ridiculous Brighton Beach deal has caused values in Delray to sky-rocket or at least that is what I would claim if I was an attorney for a Delray resident being condemned. That ought to please the cash-short Michigan Legislators a lot!
Of course the financing is a joke. The DRIC tolls would have to be set so high to pay back the bonds that no one would use the Bridge. The US Feds need the money for other matters. Where MDOT will get the money is beyond me since they cannot pay for immediate road projects they need now.
The Star story merely re-emphasized what was said for Canadian readers:
- “New bridge called a 'boondoggle'
Michigan hasn't purchased one acre of land
The Canadian government is wasting its money acquiring land for a new bridge across the Detroit River because the costly project will never go ahead, a U.S. lawmaker said Monday.
Ottawa has so far paid $34 million to the City of Windsor for 94 acres of land -- and is negotiating with 10 other property owners for a total of 202 acres. Michigan, however, not only has yet to purchase a single acre, but has not yet even given approval to buy any land, said Bill Shreck, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
"This isn't a done deal at all," said Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey, a Republican and the leading opponent of the taxpayer-funded bridge. "If Canadian taxpayers want to blow money on purchasing land, that's their prerogative. We blew money ($2 million) on a useless bridge study here in Michigan.
"But absolutely, it's a waste. It's a boondoggle..."
Cropsey said that in order for the Michigan Department of Transportation to buy any land, it must win votes in the Michigan house and legislature. He questions whether the project will even come to a vote, since a number of Michigan politicians oppose the public project…
"But Michigan taxpayers are hurting right now. And this is a prime example of wasteful spending."
Accordingly, Mark Butler is being the good spokesperson as he is forced to say with a straight face:
- “The governments of Canada, the United States, Michigan and Ontario have been working on this for five years," Butler said. "That binational partnership is committed to seeing a new crossing between Windsor and Detroit that is subject to appropriate public oversight.”
By the way, “oversight” means ownership in DRIC-speak.
However, let’s assume that oversight means oversight. We could have the basis of a compromise. What Mark’s words can mean is that the Enhancement Bridge can be built---a new crossing---with appropriate oversight---as in Bill C-3.
What about the obscene overpayment for the purchase of Brighton Beach. How does that fit in? The reality is that the Feds had no choice. They took their anti-Moroun crusade too far and did not have a way back out.
They need to save face
I am going to help out Sean O’Dell here. I am going to give him some assistance in how to explain away the purchase so the Auditor General will not get too mad at him. Reread my BLOG for the rationale to use, Sean, if you have not already done so: March 19, 2009 “How A Kangaroo May Save Sean O'Dell.”
And in case it bothers him to go Down Under because he does not want to go down under in his career, here is how Maine is salvaging their situation with traffic going down:
- Maine Turnpike puts off widening project on lower traffic forecast
Maine Turnpike Authority's ten year plan forecasts much slower growth in traffic, and as a result a widening project through the western edge of the Portland area is being deferred at least five years. Traffic on the Maine Turnpike grew steadily from around 100k/day in 1990 to an average 170k/day in 2004 and remained at about that level through 2007. But last year was down to 166k and this year it is heading for a further 4% drop to about 160k/day.
Deferred until about 2015 is a third laning project between milepost 44 at the I-295 interchange in Scarborough and milepost 52 at the Falmouth spur, a 13km, 8 mile stretch along the western edge of the greater Portland area. The Turnpike is already 2x3 lanes from MP44 south to the New Hampshire border.
HNTB, general consultants to Maine Turnpike Authority say in the draft ten year planning report: "total Turnpike trips in 2008 were at their lowest point since 2003. And data from the first 6 months of 2009 suggests that this decline will continue through 2009…
"They propose to continue with a modernization of the MP44-MP52 segment involving reconstruction of cross bridges to higher vertical clearances and longer spans with the abutments set back to provide for extra lanes, widening of shoulders and clear zones.
The ten year plan calls for a variety of less spectacular projects than widening…
it is what Dan Paradee of the Turnpike calls "pretty much bread and butter stuff."
In case Sean has trouble understanding what I am getting at, I will spell it out in very simple terms so even a bureaucrat can understand it: build the Enhancement Bridge project as the interim step, build the road to the Ambassador Bridge, protect the corridor and then build a new bridge at the appropriate time.
As I have said before, the only way that jobs can be created is if the Canadian Government and Moroun can figure out a way to work together. That will result in the Enhancement Bridge being built. That would necessitate a road to the bridge. That would create jobs.
Citizens For Jobs Now needs to focus on getting the Feds and the Bridge Company together or we are facing a decade or two of economic disruption on this region. It is time for Citizens For Jobs Now to start getting vocal.
Oh, there is one more Star story to consider. It provides the "jobs now" excuse for Eddie to back off:
- "15,185 Border jobs projected
Report on crossing, parkway goes to councils
The construction of a new border crossing and access road is expected to create 15,185 jobs in Windsor and Essex County, says a report that went to city and county councillors over the weekend."
The key lines were buried at the bottom of the story as is usual with the Star:
- "Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said the environmental assessment for the Windsor-Essex Parkway road goes to cabinet this week.
The city was pushing for changes to the province’s border road plan, but has been working closely with the federal and provincial governments in recent months to get the project moving, Mayor Eddie Francis said.
The mayor said he’s hopeful that once cabinet has the environmental assessment, the city and province can come to an agreement.
According to the province’s plan, construction could start as early as 2010 and would take at least three years."
Notice the past tense of the language. The deal has been long done. No wonder Dwight will pay for Red Bull again.
Take down that darn Greenlink banner already! It is dead with its stall mission accomplished. Sure we have to worry about kids and backpaths and death and destruction as Eddie and the Star warned us. However, this is all poltiics now since it is re-election time as unconscionable as it may seem to be.
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