Windsor

Border expert says new Ambassador Bridge won't create a 'monopoly' over the Detroit River

Bill Anderson, director of the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor, said the Detroit River border is under served and will need two bridges to handle all of the truck traffic.

Bill Anderson predicts most trucks will use the Gordie Howe Bridge

Bill Anderson, director of the University of Windsor's Cross-Border Institute. (Jason Viau/CBC)

A Windsor border expert believes the Canadian government giving permission for the Ambassador Bridge Company to build a second span is a sign of confidence in their own Gordie Howe Bridge project.

Bill Anderson,director of the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor, said the Detroit River border is under served and will need two bridges to handle all of the truck traffic.

The company that owns the Ambassador Bridge is planning to build a new span after receiving a final permit from the Canadian government, but officials on both sides of the border say some conditions must still be met before construction can begin. (Detroit International Bridge Company)

"They [the Canadian government] are not giving a permit for a monopoly across the Detroit River," he said. "For anybody to say that this indicates that the Canadian government has questions about whether they want to build that second bridge, I think that's kind of 180 degrees wrong."

Anderson predicts most trucks will use the Gordie Howe bridge, because it will have a better connection to Highway 401.

He added he does not foresee a price war when it comes to tolls.