MDOT: Ambassador not interested in ITS border partnership

PORT HURON, Mich. — The owner of the Ambassador Bridge has rejected forming a collaborate, real-time traffic information system with the nearby Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Mich.-Sarnia, Ont.

So says Kirk Steudle director of the Michigan Department of Transportation in an interview with a Detroit Free Press columnist.

Steudle said intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technology that informs northbound drivers in Michigan of traffic volumes on routes leading to either bridge and possible customs delays at the border points would benefit truckers and travelers alike.

Steudle says he’s repeatedly approached Manuel (Matty) Moroun, whose company operates the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, to see if the two bridges could create such a system.

But, says Steudle, Moroun isn’t interested. Reportedly, he’s concerned that such information would discourage travelers from using his bridge.

"I don’t care which bridge people use," Steudle explains. "My interest is in moving people and goods in and out of Michigan efficiently. But to Mr. Moroun, the Blue Water Bridge is competition, and drivers who use it represent lost revenue."

In response, Dan Stamper, president of Moroun’s Detroit International Bridge Co., denies that his boss has ever rejected such a plan.

"If Mr. Steudle is serious, tell him to pick up the phone or send me an e-mail and we’ll sit down and work it out tomorrow," Stamper told the paper.