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  #161  
Old Posted Oct 24, 2021, 7:53 PM
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Here's a few more drone photos, from the Canadian side, from... the future? (interestingly, the photos in the gallery are dated tomorrow, 10/25) -














Source: Gordie Howe International Bridge
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  #162  
Old Posted Oct 25, 2021, 4:30 AM
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The towers are really starting to stand out now. I recently went over the I-75 River Rouge bridge and they've surpassed all the industrial towers in Delray.
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  #163  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2021, 6:36 PM
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These are over a month old now - U.S. side -














Source: Gordie Howe International Bridge Gallery
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  #164  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2022, 4:11 PM
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I would really love for Zug Island to be cleaned up and decontaminated eventually. It is such a horrible, toxic looking site that will be right next to the new crossing. Not a good look for the region.
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  #165  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 3:53 AM
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January 17th, US side.

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  #166  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 4:58 AM
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Originally Posted by north 42 View Post
I would really love for Zug Island to be cleaned up and decontaminated eventually. It is such a horrible, toxic looking site that will be right next to the new crossing. Not a good look for the region.
I kinda think it could be a tourist site in its present form.. sorta like how a bunch of people try to visit chernobyl.
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  #167  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 2:33 PM
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Zug Island is full of industry. Why would it "clean up"?

This bridge is being built in the middle of one of the most industrialized corridors in the U.S. Obviously they aren't gonna move all the industry bc Canada decided to site a bridge here. If it's so icky there are two other Detroit crossings, plus one in Port Huron (which, for non-commercial traffic, is generally the most logical crossing).

I still don't understand why the U.S. allowed a bridge to go here. It makes no sense from a U.S. perspective. Yeah, Canada is paying for it, but it doesn't do any good on this side, except more theoretical capacity. Windsor absolutely wanted the bridge in this location to relieve traffic in the Ambassador Bridge neighborhood, but that's of no concern to the U.S. They had to demolish an entire neighborhood to build the bridge, and the Ambassador Bridge is U.S.-owned and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel is U.S. leased, so if the bridge is successful in diverting traffic from other crossings, it will harm U.S. interests.
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  #168  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 2:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Crawford View Post
Zug Island is full of industry. Why would it "clean up"?

This bridge is being built in the middle of one of the most industrialized corridors in the U.S. Obviously they aren't gonna move all the industry bc Canada decided to site a bridge here. If it's so icky there are two other Detroit crossings, plus one in Port Huron (which, for non-commercial traffic, is generally the most logical crossing).

I still don't understand why the U.S. allowed a bridge to go here. It makes no sense from a U.S. perspective. Yeah, Canada is paying for it, but it doesn't do any good on this side, except more theoretical capacity. Windsor absolutely wanted the bridge in this location to relieve traffic in the Ambassador Bridge neighborhood, but that's of no concern to the U.S. They had to demolish an entire neighborhood to build the bridge, and the Ambassador Bridge is U.S.-owned and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel is U.S. leased, so if the bridge is successful in diverting traffic from other crossings, it will harm U.S. interests.
Your government doesn't like the Ambassador Bridge either - MDOT sued Matty Moroun for breaking a contract or something. Something like 150,000 jobs in Windsor and Detroit rely on the Ambassador Bridge, so it's no surprise that the American gov't would be happy with a new bridge that is being paid for by somebody else.
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  #169  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 2:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Crawford View Post
plus one in Port Huron (which, for non-commercial traffic, is generally the most logical crossing).
FWIW, according to Google maps, driving from Chicago to Toronto is 20 minutes shorter crossing the border over the ambassador bridge in Detroit vs. the blue water bridge in PH/Sarnia.

So I'm not sure that the blue water bridge is automatically "the most logical" for all non-commercial traffic.

And this new bridge should make through-traffic crossing the border at Detroit even more time efficient than the ambassador.


Incidentally, I learned that there is another border crossing in the area that I never knew about: a ferry across the St. Clair river at Algonac, MI.
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Last edited by Steely Dan; Jan 18, 2022 at 4:35 PM.
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  #170  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 3:25 PM
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Your government doesn't like the Ambassador Bridge either - MDOT sued Matty Moroun for breaking a contract or something. Something like 150,000 jobs in Windsor and Detroit rely on the Ambassador Bridge, so it's no surprise that the American gov't would be happy with a new bridge that is being paid for by somebody else.
lol those jobs don't rely on the Ambassador specifically, just rely on having a major crossing in the region.

The more efficient freeway connections on the Canadian side benefit American businesses using the crossing, it's not like their trips instantly end once they cross the border.

And as has already been said, it will result in significantly improved crossing capacity resulting in much shorter border wait times.

The benefits are indeed less for Michigan than Ontario, but I wouldn't say that the bridge has *no* benefit. The freeway-freeway connection is a big benefit for anyone crossing the border as it will cut a lot of travel time, especially combined with reduced wait times.

Plus Michigan is getting a bunch of free bridge reconstructions along I75 paid for by the Canadian government as a part of the project, and the neighbourhood that was demolished for it wasn't exactly an economically thriving community beforehand..

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3003...7i13312!8i6656

I mean the bridge clearly wasn't a priority for the US, they were too cheap to even pay for their own border clearance facilities. The project is 100% financed by the Canadian government, and you would have to be pretty stupid to turn down free money (although Michigan did get pretty close because of Moroun's lobbying).
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  #171  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 3:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere View Post
lol those jobs don't rely on the Ambassador specifically, just rely on having a major crossing in the region.

The more efficient freeway connections on the Canadian side benefit American businesses using the crossing, it's not like their trips instantly end once they cross the border.

And as has already been said, it will result in significantly improved crossing capacity resulting in much shorter border wait times.

The benefits are indeed less for Michigan than Ontario, but I wouldn't say that the bridge has *no* benefit. The freeway-freeway connection is a big benefit for anyone crossing the border as it will cut a lot of travel time, especially combined with reduced wait times.

Plus Michigan is getting a bunch of free bridge reconstructions along I75 paid for by the Canadian government as a part of the project, and the neighbourhood that was demolished for it wasn't exactly an economically thriving community beforehand..

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3003...7i13312!8i6656

I mean the bridge clearly wasn't a priority for the US, they were too cheap to even pay for their own border clearance facilities. The project is 100% financed by the Canadian government, and you would have to be pretty stupid to turn down free money (although Michigan did get pretty close because of Moroun's lobbying).
That's what I meant. I guess I need to be clearer, LOL.
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  #172  
Old Posted Jan 18, 2022, 3:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere View Post
lol those jobs don't rely on the Ambassador specifically, just rely on having a major crossing in the region.

The more efficient freeway connections on the Canadian side benefit American businesses using the crossing, it's not like their trips instantly end once they cross the border.

And as has already been said, it will result in significantly improved crossing capacity resulting in much shorter border wait times.

The benefits are indeed less for Michigan than Ontario, but I wouldn't say that the bridge has *no* benefit. The freeway-freeway connection is a big benefit for anyone crossing the border as it will cut a lot of travel time, especially combined with reduced wait times.

Plus Michigan is getting a bunch of free bridge reconstructions along I75 paid for by the Canadian government as a part of the project, and the neighbourhood that was demolished for it wasn't exactly an economically thriving community beforehand..
.

Exactly. This was all about improving crossing times, capacity, and efficiency. Of course the U.S. has an interest in that.
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  #173  
Old Posted Jan 19, 2022, 5:10 PM
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So the plan is that as soon as the Gordie Howe Bridge is in operation they will start to replace the current Ambassador Bridge?
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  #174  
Old Posted Jan 19, 2022, 6:46 PM
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So the plan is that as soon as the Gordie Howe Bridge is in operation they will start to replace the current Ambassador Bridge?
The Ambassador Bridge is privately owned. I doubt the owners would simply "replace" it.

The Gordie Howe Bridge is supposed to take over the "main" trucking route, eliminating a drive down Windsor city streets and a drive over the congested Ambassador Bridge.
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  #175  
Old Posted Jan 19, 2022, 6:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Crawford View Post
Zug Island is full of industry. Why would it "clean up"?

This bridge is being built in the middle of one of the most industrialized corridors in the U.S. Obviously they aren't gonna move all the industry bc Canada decided to site a bridge here. If it's so icky there are two other Detroit crossings, plus one in Port Huron (which, for non-commercial traffic, is generally the most logical crossing).

I still don't understand why the U.S. allowed a bridge to go here. It makes no sense from a U.S. perspective. Yeah, Canada is paying for it, but it doesn't do any good on this side, except more theoretical capacity. Windsor absolutely wanted the bridge in this location to relieve traffic in the Ambassador Bridge neighborhood, but that's of no concern to the U.S. They had to demolish an entire neighborhood to build the bridge, and the Ambassador Bridge is U.S.-owned and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel is U.S. leased, so if the bridge is successful in diverting traffic from other crossings, it will harm U.S. interests.
Because the steel mill has closed now, so remediation of the site will only make the air that both Detroit and Windsor breathes much cleaner and less toxic.
Lol at demolishing an entire neighbourhood. Delray was almost completely abandoned and most of it was urban prairie.
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  #176  
Old Posted Jan 19, 2022, 8:16 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford View Post
Zug Island is full of industry. Why would it "clean up"?

This bridge is being built in the middle of one of the most industrialized corridors in the U.S. Obviously they aren't gonna move all the industry bc Canada decided to site a bridge here. If it's so icky there are two other Detroit crossings, plus one in Port Huron (which, for non-commercial traffic, is generally the most logical crossing).

I still don't understand why the U.S. allowed a bridge to go here. It makes no sense from a U.S. perspective. Yeah, Canada is paying for it, but it doesn't do any good on this side, except more theoretical capacity. Windsor absolutely wanted the bridge in this location to relieve traffic in the Ambassador Bridge neighborhood, but that's of no concern to the U.S. They had to demolish an entire neighborhood to build the bridge, and the Ambassador Bridge is U.S.-owned and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel is U.S. leased, so if the bridge is successful in diverting traffic from other crossings, it will harm U.S. interests.
I thought 9/11 was the reason?
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  #177  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2022, 1:57 PM
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Originally Posted by DirectionNorth View Post
The Ambassador Bridge is privately owned. I doubt the owners would simply "replace" it.
Maybe not. But the owners of the Ambassador do want to build a "twin span". That proposal is stuck in permitting and going nowhere fast. Ironic, because a condition of the original Coast Guard permit (issued in 2017) was that the new Ambassador span would have to replace the old one. But they want to keep the old and build a new one too.

Quote:
Ambassador Bridge twin span facing permit woes, status in question
Dave Battagello | Windsor Star
Oct 21, 2021
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  #178  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2022, 2:32 PM
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From a historical perspective, it'd be a shame to lose the Ambassador Bridge because it was once the longest span on the planet back when it was completed in 1929, a record it held for 2 years until the GWB opened in NYC.
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  #179  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2022, 3:16 PM
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From a historical perspective, it'd be a shame to lose the Ambassador Bridge because it was once the longest span on the planet back when it was completed in 1929, a record it held for 2 years until the GWB opened in NYC.
It's reaching end of functional life more or less from my understanding.

Obviously enough money could be spent to save it, but replacement is cheaper and being privately owned is the likely path.

The replacement bridge was also largely a media ploy from my understanding to distract from the Gordie Howe. Moroun was trying to paint Gordie Howe as unnecessary as he was "willing" to build a new twin span for the Ambassador to increase capacity.

Now that he lost the battle, why move forward with it until the existing ambassador is absolutely on it's last legs and needs structural replacement?
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  #180  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2022, 3:24 PM
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It's reaching end of functional life more or less from my understanding.
Was it not built to last?

The GWB is roughly the same age and I haven't heard about it nearing the end of its functional life.

Hell, the Brooklyn bridge is nearing 140 years old and it's still going strong.
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