DETROIT – Executives with the company that owns Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge have suggested they would cut their toll costs if a new bridge is built between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. They also argued that toll costs for a new bridge would have to be double the rates paid at the Ambassador Bridge to help cover the proposed bridge’s cost, what Gov. Snyder described as more misinformation from the opponents of the proposed bridge.

Meanwhile, supporters of the proposed bridge released details of a study done by Canadian universities that said border delays in moving exports cost that country as much as $30 billion, in Canadian funds.

At a press conference in Detroit on Friday, Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Company, would not say he and other executives were threatening a toll war with a new publicly owned bridge (known formerly as the Detroit River International Crossing and re-titled by Snyder as the New International Trade Crossing).

But the company would take steps to protect itself if a new bridge is built and opened. “The Ambassador Bridge will consider everything,” Stamper said.

The press conference came at the end of a week where greater scrutiny and attention was given to the company owning the Ambassador Bridge and to the issue itself.

Snyder or Lt. Governor Brian Calley (who is shepherding the bridge issue for the governor) have said legislation giving approval for a new bridge will be introduced soon, but they have not said specifically when the bill will drop. When it does, it is expected to start in the Senate.

Among the stories that dealt with the bridge issue this week was the revelation that a gas station owned by the Ambassador Bridge owners and located on the bridge’s land is exempt from state and federal taxes.

That led Calley to post an unusually sharp comment on Facebook that the Ambassador Bridge executives, “Carry on about the competition that would come with another bridge and yet they are taking advantage of a court fought loophole that allows them to sell gasoline and diesel without collecting state and federal taxes. All the other truckstop owners in the area lose sales as a result. I guess they are not for fair competition after all.”

And Robert Sedler, a Wayne State University law professor and one of the better-known constitutional lawyers in the state, conducted a study at the behest of the Ambassador Bridge executives. In a newspaper opinion piece, he said legislation allowing a new bridge to be built could be unconstitutional because of earlier U.S. law.

At the press conference on Friday, financial analyst Van Conway said a new bridge would fall $1.5 billion short of covering costs over 20 years unless it doubles the tolls now charged by the Ambassador Bridge.

Tom Shields, a spokesperson for DRIC/NITC supporters, said motorists would welcome some competition since the Ambassador Bridge already charges the highest tolls of other Canadian/U.S. crossings.

And Sara Wurfel, spokesperson for Snyder, said the Ambassador could use some competition to lower those tolls. Further, Canada has agreed to cover the early shortfall between toll payments and debt load.

“That issue is irrelevant to Michigan taxpayers,” she said. “There is so much confusion and misinformation out there and that is a thing we have to work doubly hard so people can get the facts and get their information from that.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the new bridge released findings of a study from economists at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, that said the cost of delays at the border is higher than had previously been thought.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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