Manuel “Matty” Moroun, the billionaire trucking mogul and
owner of the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit thinks he has the answer to an aging
bridge structure and growing traffic concerns, and that is to build a twin
bridge right next to the old one.
The Windsor Star based in Ontario, Canada, obtained a 34-page report from the reclusive bridge owner regarding his enhancement project.
Conspicuously absent from the report, according to The Star, is a previous idea for a 2.8-mile “ring road” that would double as
a truck feeder route.
A binational study group, Detroit River International
Crossing, had already recommended a new crossing be constructed about two miles
south of the Ambassador Bridge in an effort to remove congestion from Windsor’s
busy Huron Church Road and neighboring residential streets.
Moroun’s plan counteracts the recommendation. Instead, the
Ambassador Bridge Co. is calling for the same traffic route from Huron Church Road, only with a twinned Ambassador Bridge.
The proposed new bridge would take the burden from the
75-year-old structure when it needs future repairs.
Design of the bridge is estimated to take less than two
years, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the debate about where a new border crossing
should go rages on between private ownership and the government agencies on
both sides of the Detroit River.
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