State issues RFP's for the DRIC

**kraig** · July-06-09, 08:52 AM

So far this project has gone from 1.6 Billion to 3.5 Billion to 5 Billion. This DRIC project is already starting to become more screwed up than the Bluewater Bridge project is, and it's just getting started. And if you talk to anyone from Port Huron, they'll tell you how screwed up the Bluewater Bridge project is.

I hope that the people of Delray are paying attention to the kind of money that's being spent on the DRIC. Don't let yourselves get lowballed.

Twenty-four days is an awfully fast turnaround time. It looks as though the powers that be have someone in mind and are trying to make it difficult for the competition.

State issues border RFPs

By Dave Battagello, The Windsor StarJuly 3, 2009

The Michigan government has issued seven requests for proposals related to a new Windsor-Detroit bridge.

The Michigan government has issued seven requests for proposals related to a new Windsor-Detroit bridge.
The proposals issued by the Michigan Department of Transportation seek companies interested in winning contracts for bridge design, freeway design and esthetic design. A consultant co-ordinator is also being sought on the U.S. side. Each RFP has a closing date of July 27.
The Detroit River International Crossing project, including a new downriver bridge, is designed to link Highway 401 in Canada to I-75 in Detroit. It is expected to cost up to $5 billion and produce 12,000 full-time jobs.
DRIC is a binational partnership that includes federal, provincial and state government officials on both sides of the border.
The project is being challenged by Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun who has been pushing for construction of a twin span next to his 81-year-old bridge.
The state government last week filed a lawsuit against Moroun's bridge company, alleging in part that the billionaire businessman has started building a new crossing without several required government permits.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Ontario earlier this week released a request for qualifications to shortlist teams to design, build, finance and maintain the proposed $1.6-billion Windsor-Essex Parkway, a border feeder highway in Windsor under the DRIC plan.
The nine-kilometre below-grade route in the Talbot Road-Huron Church corridor includes 11 short overpasses which total 1.8 kilometres of coverage.
The RFQ indicates the new parkway will be the largest highway investment in Ontario's history.
It includes 300 acres of green space, 20 kilometres of recreational trails and extensive landscaping throughout the corridor. The Windsor-Essex Parkway will be owned and operated by the government and will not be a toll road, according to the RFQ.
Officials with Infrastructure Ontario could not be reached Thursday for comment.
The shortlisted teams selected by the ministry will be invited to respond to a request for proposals should the required approvals under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act be granted. The timetable for those approvals is expected to come late this summer or early fall.
Â© Copyright [[c) The Windsor Star

**davewindsor** · July-06-09, 07:29 PM

In theory, I'd say it's great to see some of this stimulus money being spent in this area, but another report in the Windsor Star said the shovel wouldn't even hit the ground till late next year with a 5 year completion date. Then again, Windsor must have set the world record with EC Rowe, a 9 mile expressway that took 13 years to finish. So, I'm guessing I'll be in a retirement home by the time the Canadian government finishes their side.

**MSUguy** · July-07-09, 11:22 AM

This is a bit of sloppy reporting the 5 billion figure represent the total cost of project the the the bridge the plazas and the Windsor Parkway. The esitmate for the total US side of the project bridge+ plaza/interchange is 1.8 billion.

**kraig** · July-07-09, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by MSUguy

This is a bit of sloppy reporting the 5 billion figure represent the total cost of project the the the bridge the plazas and the Windsor Parkway. The esitmate for the total US side of the project bridge+ plaza/interchange is 1.8 billion.

That's the thing, the total cost on both sides has risen to 5 Billion dollars. It started off much lower. It was 3.5 Billion just a month or two ago.

**MSUguy** · July-07-09, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by kraig

That's the thing, the total cost on both sides has risen to 5 Billion dollars. It started off much lower. It was 3.5 Billion just a month or two ago.

The 5 billion dollar figure has been out for awhile this article was written in May 2008

A new $5-billion bridge is being planned for the Windsor, Ont.-Detroit corridor, sources told Radio-Canada.
Governments in Canada and the United States will work together to build a second bridge beside the overburdened Ambassador Bridge, say the sources.
An official announcement is expected in July.
A site has already been picked for the Canadian side of the bridge, Radio-Canada reported

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...or-bridge.html

**kraig** · July-07-09, 07:18 PM

Thanks for the info. Your link also led to this:

New Windsor bridge needed to help trade: study

Last Updated: Friday, January 23, 2004 | 12:20 PM ET

CBC News

Canada and the U.S. risk losing as much as $28.6 billion US a year in trade by the year 2030 unless another bridge is built between Windsor and Detroit. A new report from a joint governmental task force studying the need for a new crossing across the Detroit River, warns that daily traffic tie-ups on the Ambassador Bridge could be detrimental to the two economies over the next 26 years.
About 25 per cent of the trade between the U.S. and Canada goes through the Windsor-Detroit trade corridor – more than $1 billion a day. And 70 per cent of goods are moved by truck, according to the report from the Canada-U.S-Ontario-Michigan Border Transportation Partnership.

Richard Blouse, president of the Detroit Regional Chamber, is lobbying for a new bridge.
"There's no doubt in my mind there's justifiable need for a third crossing," he said. "Urgency should be applied to speed it up."
If approved, a new bridge could take 10 years to build at a cost of up to $600 million, but a decision on whether and where to build could take several years.
But U.S. federal highway officials don't share the task force's sense of urgency. They say the existing Ambassador Bridge has the capacity to handle 24,000 commercial vehicle crossings each day, yet it only attracts 50 per cent of that volume.
U.S. officials say that it isn't the volume of vehicles that's to blame for the congestion, but the holdups caused by border inspections and the lack of access to freeways from the bridge in Windsor.

I guess BShea has been on point about the capacity issues. There may be some posters around here that owe him an apology.