Engineer appointed to push ahead Detroit-Windsor crossing
August 1, 2014
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
Canada's Minister of Transportation, Lisa Raitt, says the Canadian government will proceed with building the Detroit River International Crossing even if the U.S. government fails to pay its $250-million share.
Canada’s Minister of Transportation, Lisa Raitt, says the Canadian government will proceed with building the Detroit River International Crossing even if the U.S. government fails to pay its $250-million share.
Now, to get things moving, Minister Raitt announced on July 30 that professional engineer Michele “Michael” Cautillo has been appointed as president and chief executive officer of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority. Cautillo has been involved in the planning of the project for years.
A design-build-operate-maintain P3 contractor has still to be hired.
The planned bridge, known in the U.S. as the New International Trade Crossing, has been controversial because although it is supported by Canada and the Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, opponents in that state’s legislature have blocked funding. The opponents support the existing Detroit-Windsor crossing.
The new crossing is for Canada’s busiest trade corridor with the U.S., providing an alternative to the existing privately owned crossing. Besides a new six-lane bridge, the project involves new border inspection plazas on both sides, as well as expressways, including the 11-kilometre, $1.4-billion Windsor-Essex Parkway under construction.
The Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement was signed between Canada and Michigan in 2012 and provided a framework for the new publicly owned bridge. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority was formed as a Canadian crown corporation charged with managing the procurement process.
Several consulting engineering companies were involved in the four-year environmental studies for the crossing project that were filed in 2009. They included URS Canada (lead consultant), and Golder, SENS, RWDI, Stantec, LGL and IBI.
For an article in the Windsor Star and more information about the crossing project, click here.
http://buildthedricnow.com/2011/08/19/windsor-essex-parkway-will-not-be-road-to-nowhere-politicians-vow/
For an article about the engineering design of the Windsor-Essex Parkway, click here.
https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/news/the-windsor-essex-parkway/1000401716/
