Mich-Can’s Back: Group interested in P3 deal

WINDSOR, Ont. — Anyone who has been following the painstakingly measured border selection proceedings in Windsor over the last seven years might recall a group called Mich-Can.

Its members were made up of former Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel execs. And its 15-year-old proposal to build a new crossing southwest of the current Ambassador Bridge was one of several ideas rejected for public support in 2005 by the Detroit River International Study (DRIC) — (as was the Ambassador’s plan to twin its own bridge).

Ironically, DRIC’s preferred location for a new publicly-backed crossing is very close to the original Mich-Can blueprint.

It appears, now, that Mich-Can is back. According to a Windsor Star report, Mich-Can International Bridge Co. officials are said to be watching the situation at the border very closely.

Ross Clarke, managing director, told the paper the group is "very much together," and could be one of the firms that lines up for a public-private partnership (P3) to invest in and operate the bridge, as promised by Ottawa.

The Mich-Can team has always felt a location next to the Canada Salt company was the best place for a new bridge.

At the time Mich-Can was vying for DRIC’s consideration, the group vowed that its plan wouldn’t have needed government funds.

It claimed that it would use bonds to fund the project, with control eventually turned over to the cities of Windsor and Detroit once the bonds were paid off through toll revenues.