L. Brooks Patterson: Running Out Of Time On Bridge Deal
DETROIT (WWJ) - Will there ever be a new bridge between Detroit and Canada? The debate about where and who will build a new bridge between countries continues.
Ambassador bridge owner Manny Maroun wants to build a second span with his own money. Governor Snyder wants a new bridge further down river built through a public-private partnership.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson sees nothing wrong with a bit of old-fashioned competition, but he thinks Maroun is fighting an uphill battle with this one.
"Manny's got a problem. He's going to start his bridge in Michigan; he's going to drop it in Windsor. Windsor's said 'We're not taking another bridge. We can't take the traffic, can't take the congestion, can't take the pollution. We're not going to accept it!' You can't build half-a-bridge. The only game in town, as far as I'm concerned, is the old DRIC which is a mile-and-a-quarter downriver," Patterson said.
If the decision process carries out any longer, Patterson is afraid the state will lose the opportunity to build a new bridge all together.
"If we dally too much longer... Buffalo is out there looking at their fifth span. I don't want to see them take that business away from us. And, so, I think we need to look down the road and say we're going to need this facility; this bridge in the not-too-distant future. And it's going to take us a number of years -- 5 to 10 years to get it up and running. Things can change in 5-to-10 years," Patterson said.
Governor Snyder is pushing for legislation that would set up a special authority to seek bids from companies interested in building the bridge, which he said would be completely privately owned, keeping tax dollars in the pockets of taxpayers.
