Tagged: Ambassador Bridge

There’s been a lot of confusion about how much a new bridge across the Canadian border at Detroit might cost taxpayers. TV ads say it will cost Michigan taxpayers $100 million a year. The governor says it will cost Michigan nothing.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says we need a new bridge to Canada. It will mean more trade and more and better jobs. Not everyone agrees, especially the owners of the single bridge in Detroit which connects Michigan to Canada.

Eight thousand trucks a day cross the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

The question of whether to build a new bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario has been the source of ongoing conflict between Gov. Snyder and Matty Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge Company.

Reporter Lester Graham, with Michigan Watch, will bring us a special five-part series on the debate about building a new bridge. The series begins on Monday August 13.

Detroit police say they received another bomb threat on the Ambassador Bridge on Wednesday evening. This time, authorities kept the busy international crossing open while they investigated the call.

Police said the call came about 5:15 p.m, and the site was "officially cleared" for safety at 7 p.m.

This latest bomb threat is the second called on the bridge this week, and it marks the third recent bomb threat on transportation links between the United States and Canada.

On July 12, someone called in a similar threat on the Detroit-Windsor tunnel. 

The previous two calls resulted in several-hour shutdowns of the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor tunnel, which allowed police to search the area.  No bombs were found during either search.

After receiving the latest threat to the Ambassador Bridge on Wednesday, Sgt. Eren Stephens says, police let traffic continue, reports the AP.

A statement from police says "preliminary Intelligence" indicates that Wednesday's caller "may have made hoax bomb threats in the past."

Authorities let Comerica Park remain open Tuesday despite another bomb threat during a Detroit Tigers game.

The Detroit News also reported that a bomb squad responded to a report of a suspicious package found at Cobo Center last Monday.

Although the bomb-related threats occurred over a short time period, it remains unclear if the calls are made by the same people or person, reported the Wall Street Journal:

Andrew Arena, the former head of the Detroit FBI office who now is executive director of the Detroit Crime Commission, said bomb-threat hoaxes often come in bunches. "Is it one person or a copycat? A lot of times somebody does this and then copycat people jump on board," he said. "It's certainly a stress on law enforcement and everybody who has to respond to this stuff."

-Elaine Ezekiel, Michigan Radio Newsroom

Last week, a bomb threat called in from Canada shut down the tunnel that runs under the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor. The tunnel is the second busiest crossing between the United States and Canada. The busiest crossing is the Ambassador Bridge just more than a mile down river. The tunnel was closed to traffic for most of the afternoon while authorities from both countries inspected the tunnel and found no bomb.

Gov. Rick Snyder says last night's bomb-threat that closed the Ambassador bridge for hours provides another reason to build a second bridge.

Last week, when a similar bomb-threat closed down the Detroit-Windsor tunnel, Michigan Radio's Lester Graham had his mind 1.5 miles down river, on the Ambassador Bridge. 

DETROIT (AP) - Traffic again is rolling across the Ambassador Bridge, a U.S.-Canada span that was closed for hours while authorities checked out a bomb threat.

The threat came Monday night to the U.S. side of the bridge in Detroit. There was a similar threat four days earlier to a nearby tunnel crossing.

According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, traffic was at normal levels as rush hour approached Tuesday morning.

Detroit police say someone called 911 around 7:20 p.m. Monday, saying a bomb would go off in 10 minutes.

Updated

A reported bomb threat closed the Detroit Windsor Tunnel today for several hours. Almost all of the tunnel’s traffic is passenger cars. Traffic was diverted to the only other alternative to cross the border, the Ambassador Bridge. Congestion slowed traffic.

It was certainly an inconvenience for travelers, but the economic impact of the tunnel closure was minimal.

However, if the Ambassador Bridge were closed for hours or days for any reason, it would be a much different story.

At a press conference in Windsor, Ont. today, Gov. Rick Snyder joined Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper to announce the New International Trade Crossing Agreement. This agreement, according to the Governor’s Office, will bolster trade, simplify travel and provide as many as 10,000 temporary and permanent jobs by allowing the construction of a new bridge over the Detroit River connecting the cities of Detroit and Ontario.

A new bridge crossing connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario will create more than 8,000 permanent jobs, according to a new study.

The study comes from the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, an industry-sponsored group.

Detroit Mayor hires firm to stop consent agreement challenge

The Detroit Free Press calls the case"the City of Detroit vs. the City of Detroit."

Mayor Dave Bing has been trying to convince city council to join him in stopping the city's lead attorney from going forward with a legal challenge against the city's consent agreement with the state. Now he's hired lawyers of his own:

Mayor Dave Bing, exasperated by the lead city attorney's unwillingness to drop her challenge of the financial deal meant to spare Detroit from the appointment of an emergency manager, has brought in hired legal guns to try to quash her complaint.

Bing has hired attorneys from Miller Canfield -- the same law firm the mayor contracted to broker the consent deal with the state and a bond agreement that kept the city financially afloat -- to file a motion to intervene against the city's top lawyer, Krystal Crittendon, people familiar with the decision told the Free Press on condition they not be named because they're not authorized to speak on the issue.

Crittendonwill be in Ingham County Circuit  Court today where she's expected to request an expedited decision in the case.

Protests in Lansing over potential abortion legislation

Protestors opposing a set of bills aimed at putting restrictions on abortion were in Lansing yesterday. MPRN's Rick Pluta reported protestors said the bills would force some clinics that provide an array of services to women to shut down.

They were protesting a group of anti-abortion bills to be voted on this week by the House. The legislation would outlaw terminating a pregnancy after 20 weeks. It would also require clinics to be inspected, and impose new restrictions on abortion providers.           

“Frankly, these bills terrify me,” said Susie Simons of East Lansing.

Announcement on new bridge to Canada expected

Since he's become Governor, Rick Snyder has been pushing for a second bridge linking Detroit to Canada. Now it appears plans for that second bridge are coming together.

From the Toronto Star:

A deal to build a second bridge linking Windsor and Detroit will be announced this week, sparking hope that the chronic congestion at Canada’s busiest border crossing will soon be relieved.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to join with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on the Windsor waterfront for the official announcement on Friday, a source told the Toronto Star Tuesday.