Governor Rick Snyder will, sadly, probably be remembered for what happened to the water in Flint more than for anything else. But he deserves to be remembered for one very positive achievement. He found a way to make a new bridge over the Detroit River a reality.
For years, business interests and anyone else who could see the future knew our economic future depended on having a new bridge. If something happened to the 88-year-old Ambassador, it would have an absolutely devastating effect on the economies of Michigan and Ontario.
More than half a billion dollars in trade move across that bridge every week, and there is no backup. Most of it, especially heavy automotive components, couldn’t go through the tunnel, and the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron is too far away and already too busy.
Even worse, the Ambassador Bridge isn’t in the right place for today’s economy. Trucks entering Canada face something like a dozen red lights before they reach Highway 401. Sometimes, they are backed up onto I-75 waiting to get on the bridge.
The need for a new bridge was self-evident to every business executive except Matty Moroun and his family, billionaires who are making millions out of the old one. They used skillfully placed campaign contributions to prevent the legislature from ever allowing a new bridge to be built. But in 2011, Snyder found a loophole in Michigan’s constitution that allowed him to conclude an “interlocal” agreement with Canada to allow a new bridge to be built.
Provided, that is, that Michigan contributed none of the costs. The bridge is so important to Canada’s economy that they agreed to cover Michigan’s share, on the understanding they would be paid back eventually out of our state’s share of the eventual tolls.
My guess is that this will take decades. Whatever the official estimates, the bridge will end up costing three or four billion dollars. To me, there’s something humiliating about Michigan or at least the United States not paying our fair share. But we will have a new bridge.
That is, if something doesn’t happen last minute to screw it up. Through one of his many businesses, Matty Moroun donated $250,000 to Bill Schuette’s campaign for governor.
Philanthropy has never been a major cause of the Morouns, and you can bet he expects something for that. Moroun wants to build his own second bridge next to the Ambassador – and Canada last summer surprised many and dismayed some by giving him permission to do it.
But what many missed is that there are so many conditions and so many hoops he’d have to jump through first – including providing legal guarantees that the Ambassador Bridge would be torn down once the new one is up. Nor would his new bridge, because of its location, be likely to be truly competitive with the Gordie Howe Bridge.
When you talk to people removed from the controversy, they find it very odd that any nation would allow one man to own an international border crossing, especially one of such vast economic importance to both our country and Canada. They also sometimes find it hard to understand that a 91-year-old man worth well over a billion dollars thinks he needs more money.
If I figure out logical answers to those questions, I’ll let you know.
But don’t hold your breath.
