DETROIT – A who’s who of state, local and Canadian officials, combined with leaders from business and labor, opened an effort Friday to persuade what so far has been a reluctant Legislature to authorize the construction of a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor.
Governor Jennifer Granholm said the united front should convince lawmakers that virtually every decision-maker on both sides of the border has agreed to back the Detroit River International Crossing and the thousands of jobs it would entail. A House committee vote is planned for April 29.
Joining Granholm at the press conference, held at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s headquarters, were Gary Doer, the Canadian Ambassador to the United States; Chamber President Sandy Baruah, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, former Governor James Blanchard, Steve Biegun, Ford Motor Company vice president for international government affairs, Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis, Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney, Shorty Gleason, president of the Michigan Building Trades and Construction Council, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and a half-dozen legislators.
“It’s hard to imagine another project that has as much universal support as this does,” Granholm said. “This is about as much of a no-brainer as you can get.”
So high-profile was the event that it even drew Nora Moroun, wife of Manuel “Matty” Moroun, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge and staunch opponent of a new government-run bridge so that he can build a second span alongside the Ambassador. Moroun and officials of Moroun’s Detroit International Bridge Company did not participate in the event, but watched from the back of the room and spoke to reporters afterward.
Kirk Steudle, director of the Department of Transportation, said the state would have to pay $100 million in up front costs, but that money could be rolled into the financing, which would be repaid through bridge tolls, meaning in the end the state would have no upfront costs.
The clear goal of the event was to mount enormous pressure on the Republicans who control the Senate, specifically Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt), who has steadfastly resisted the DRIC project in favor of allowing the Ambassador to build a second span.
Patterson, the most high-profile Republican participant in the event, said Cropsey has become intransigent on the issue.
“This is kind of a one-man wrecking crew with Senator Cropsey to the point of unreasonable,” Patterson said. “Cropsey’s unreasonable stalling on this is endangering the project.”
Patterson, a close ally of Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester), said he has promised to provide Bishop with a document that Bishop has said would lead him to support the project. Patterson declined to say what that document is.
Patterson described himself as “good friends” with Moroun, but Canadian officials are immovable in their opposition to a second Ambassador span. That opposition stems in part from worries of added traffic, but also Moroun has become politically toxic in Windsor and Ontario.
“If it’s not going to go there, then the DRIC is the only game in town,” he said, noting the need for Detroit to keep pace with the number of bridge crossings between western New York and Ontario.
But Cropsey fired back, saying Patterson is only supporting the DRIC to win favor with MDOT so it will agree to widen I-75 in Oakland County, a long-sought major project there. Cropsey said he had no proof of such an arrangement, but “that’s what’s going on.”
“It’s not that I’m being unreasonable,” he said. “I think it’s asking questions the taxpayers are asking that the governor hasn’t come up with any answers for.”
Further, Cropsey said, “It really surprises me that Brooks Patterson would be out there pushing for a massive spending increase for a Michigan Department of Transportation that has been so inept in its spending that it’s obviously going to call for a massive tax increase.”
Patterson did not immediately return a message asking about Cropsey’s allegation. Spokesperson Bill Mullan said of Cropsey’s comment: “As Brooks has said, it’s not about Republicans or Democrats, it’s about jobs. And if we don’t get that second span built, we’re going to lose the span to New York.”
On the overall project, Cropsey said he is skeptical of public-private partnerships, saying some have gone bankrupt in recent years, putting the state at risk of having to cover the costs should the same happen with the DRIC.
Cropsey also questioned MDOT’s $100 million upfront cost estimate, saying the department has a long history of grossly underestimating costs. And for all the talk of the need to build the bridge for jobs, actual construction is a decade away, he said, meaning no immediate economic impact.
Cropsey, who as the floor leader holds considerable sway over the voting schedule, indicated he would not block a vote.
“I want a vote because I want every politician in Lansing to be on the record as to whether they support the biggest boondoggle in Michigan history,” he said.
Moroun denounced the actions toward approving the DRIC.
“The state of Michigan and Canada want to take 70 percent of our business, according to MDOT, and we’re willing to spend our own dollars and create those jobs, 4,000, 5,000 jobs, union workers,” she said. “We have always been up front and I want to know what … it’s going to cost us in everybody’s dollars, taxpayer dollars to destroy homes, schools, parks. I don’t get it.”
Moroun also noted that the state just spent hundreds of millions in the Gateway project to align the I-96 and I-75 freeways with the Ambassador while the new bridge would only be serviced by I-75.
There also was a dispute about when construction could begin. Government officials said construction could begin this year if the Legislature approves the legislation, but Cropsey and Ambassador officials noted other data showing construction would not begin until 2021.
“It’s an embarrassment to try to pressure the Legislature into giving a green light and millions of dollars of funding that just isn’t timely,” said Mickey Blashfield, head of government relations for the Ambassador.
Rep. Pam Byrnes (D-Chelsea), chair of the House Transportation Committee and one of those in attendance, said the legislative effort on HB 4961 would begin Thursday in her committee with a hearing. Byrnes said the committee would vote on the bill April 29, a week later. The bill would authorize Michigan to enter into a public-private partnership with Canada and a private sector developer/financier.
Bishop spokesperson Matt Marsden said Bishop is open to building the DRIC, but the House should first pass the legislation.
“If they’re serious about it, get the House moving on the legislation and get it over to the Senate and then we can have something tangible to look at,” he said.
Virtually every official emphasized the jobs the new bridge would create for the economically ravaged region. Gleason said it was a clear opportunity for the Legislature to demonstrate its seriousness about jobs.
“We’re asking you to do the right thing here,” he said. “Put the partisanship aside. I know 2010 is an important election year, but put these unemployed people first.”
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