Detroit-Windsor bridge project clears final regulatory hurdle

A major Canada-U.S. infrastructure project has cleared its last regulatory hurdle with the granting of a permit for a new bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ont.

That permit from the U.S. Coast Guard was the last one required for a bridge in the busy corridor that handles one-third of all Canada-U.S. trade.

The agency didn't waste any time issuing it after getting the go-ahead from a U.S. court. It went out on the same day, Friday, that the Circuit Court in Washington, D.C., rejected an attempt to block it.

This latest move ends an early phase of the project to build the New International Trade Crossing. The next step involves securing funding for a U.S. customs facility, along with acquiring land on the American side...

The Canadian government is already picking up the tab for nearly 95 per cent of the project, and is awaiting American financing for the portion of the bridge that would belong to the U.S. federal government.

There have been rumours in recent weeks about different potential financing models for the remaining $250 million of the roughly $4 billion project — including whether the funding void in Washington can be filled by the Canadian government or a public-private partnership.

Canada's official line, for now, remains that it's wrong to expect one country to pay for another's customs facility.

But a simple glance at trade statistics illustrates how the issue might be more urgent to one national government than the other. More than 75 per cent of Canada's merchandise exports went to the U.S. last year, while less than 20 per cent of American exports went the other way.

That makes the 85-year-old Windsor-Detroit bridge — and its replacement — a top infrastructure priority for Canada...

This has been excerpted from the 3 June 2014 article by CBC News, and is available in its entirety at http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/detroit-windsor-bridge-project-clears-final-regulatory-hurdle-1.2663755.