Ambassador pres says bridge twin won’t hurt historic neighborhood

WINDSOR, Ont. — Ambassador Bridge President Dan Stamper said at a recent press conference that plans by his private bridge company to twin the Ambassador with new a six-lane span will not affect Windsor’s Sandwich Town and Southwest Detroit neighborhoods.

Stamper said that a 2005 study released by the binational Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) inaccurately illustrated that the new span cuts through the communities.

Ambassador exec Dan Stamper says the company
will preserve Sandwich Town in span plan.

“We have objected to (the drawings) and asked them to correct it numerous times,” said Stamper. “Their drawing highlighted a 100 acre Windsor plaza for our new span. That is completely false. Because of that false drawing, the people in Sandwich have been unnecessarily alarmed about our project and that has to stop.”

The footprint necessary for the Windsor Plaza is 40 acres, exactly the same as it is today, he says. “No additional space will be needed.”

At one point Ambassador officials submitted plans for a twin crossing to the DRIC for public consideration. But the committee declined support and opted to pursue the construction of a new separate crossing a few kilometers downriver.

Ambassador owner Matty Moroun then promised that the company would continue with its expansion plans privately.

Some concerned citizens and politicians who are in favor of the DRIC’s plan for an independent crossing in southwest Windsor-Detroit have said in the past that the Ambassador’s twin span, if if completed first, would undermine construction of a new bridge.

The conference was part of a series of public forums the Ambassador Bridge is hosting in Windsor and Detroit.