Plans for new CanAm bridge crossing cleared by U.S.

DETROIT — Plans to build a second international bridge crossing between Windsor and Detroit have received the necessary environmental approvals from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The so-called “record of decision” (ROD), signed yesterday by U.S. officials, including the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), represents the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) selection team’s final environmental clearance from American authorities and allows Michigan to begin right-of-way acquisition and construction planning for the bridge.

If completed, the project — including a plaza where tolls and U.S. border inspection activities will occur, and an interchange connecting it to I-75 — would span nearly seven miles. It is expected to extend out of the suburb of Delray southwest of Detroit and into Windsor’s Brighton Beach area.

Environmental review for the U.S. side of the project began March 24, 2003. A similar review of environmental impacts on the river’s Canadian side conducted earlier this year by Ontario and Transport Canada is nearing completion.

Under current estimates, the new crossing is expected to be open to traffic in 2013. But not if the owner of the private Ambassador Bridge has anything to say about it. Recently the bridge’s president Dan Stamper told media that the DRIC bridge selection process was severely "flawed" and his company is once again considering legal action.