$10 Billion Cost For A New Government Windsor/Detroit Bridge

I am still in a state of shock. I am still stunned. It is so unbelievable that it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

I will guess that you will be in a similar position to me once you read the newspaper story which is the subject of my article, dear reader. It is so completely astounding that you will be as completely surprised as well.

I have to admit that I did not see this story being mentioned in any of the news services to which I subscribe. I did not see it being "advertised" as a story that just came out. When it first came out, I did not hear anything about it being said nor did I see any stories being published about it by anyone nor was I told about it.

I lucked out finally. I heard about it, went to the Radio Station Website where it was supposed to have been written and was able to find it, see it and then read the story!

It was so dramatic seeing the headline and then the first 2 paragraphs of the article.

Here is the relevant section of the CKLW story:

"Cost Of Gordie Howe Bridge May Hit $10-billion

Peter Langille  CKLW Radio  January 24, 2018  

Fresh off assurances the federal government remains committed to the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, comes word the cost may have risen dramatically.

Senior officials have been coy about the anticipated price, but it could go from the $5-billion range to as much as $7 to $10 billion." (Peter Langille, CKLW Radio, January 24th 2018)  

There was not much more mentioned in the story about this. Notwithstanding the horrific cost, former politician and now WDBA Board Chair Dwight Duncan "remains adamant the span will be built." 

Just so that you will understand the number, dear reader, the sum of $10 billion is about 20 times more than what the Ambassador Bridge Company will be paying now to finish off the second bridge that they have already started to build beside their existing bridge.

20 TIMES HIGHER IN PRICE!

That is correct. The Ambassador Bridge Company needs to spend only about $500 million more to complete their project.

There is no doubt now in my mind that the Gordie Howe Bridge is never going to be built. Why would anyone want to spend $10 billion to build a bridge when one can build a second crossing for one 20th of the cost!

I suspect that rumours about this horrific new cost for the Government bridge happened several months ago and the issue arose at that time whether it would be cancelled. Nothing happened then or since that time as far as I can recall about the issue until now. 

Here is what was written that I now find so fascinating:

"Could the Gordie Howe bridge be cancelled like a $3.5-billion bridge project in British Columbia?

If it happened in Vancouver, could it happen in Windsor?

A member of the Gordie Howe bridge project’s community advisory group in Detroit is drawing parallels between bridge projects in the two cities. The one in B.C. — the George Massey bridge project — was scrapped on the eve of construction despite years of planning, plus $66 million spent on site clearing and other preparatory work.

“(The Massey bridge) was a similar project and value and it happened,” said Gregg Ward. “This shows it is in the universe of possibility — a perfect example of what could happen here until you get financial close (on the Howe bridge) signed with an operator. Only then is there no going back once you have that.”

Ward raised the possibility of the Howe bridge being scuttled despite comments this week from Canada’s Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi that the stalled Detroit River crossing will get done despite being nearly two years behind schedule." (DaveBattagello, Windsor Star, October 6, 2017) 

The answer to that story's headline is so obvious about cancellation isn't it!

That is all that I want to write, dear reader. You should know as well as I that the only reason why they Government Howe Bridge project is still alive is to protect the Government of Canada in the negotiations going on with the United States and Mexico these days on the NAFTA talks. Once an agreement with NAFTA is finalized then the Howe Bridge has to disappear as well.