By Michael F. Carmichael
Feb. 3, 2011
“Are we going to talk about The Bridge?” asked Canadian Consul General Roy Norton as he neared the end of an interview on the importance of Canadian trade to American (and Canadian) small business.
| Canadian Counsel General Roy Norton. |
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Norton is an accomplished diplomat, with master’s degrees from both Harvard and Johns Hopkins and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins. He also has a wicked sense of humour (Canadian spelling.)
‘The Bridge’ is a potential, and somewhat controversial, proposed additional link between the American Midwest and its largest trading partner to the North (or South, if you’re in Southeast Michigan – check out a map). Technically, the proposal is called the Detroit River International Crossing (or DRIC for short.)
Currently, a significant portion of the freight carried by trucks between the two countries crosses the international boundary of the Detroit River over the Ambassador Bridge, a privately-held structure.
“If current projections hold,” Norton says, “truck traffic between the U.S. and Canada will increase three-fold over the next 30 years; passenger traffic will double. There really is an issue of capacity and capacity constraints. They will be a job killer.” (Clearly, Norton has a sound grasp of American political phraseology.)
What is Norton’s rationale? “We live in a just-in-time delivery world, and companies that have operations on both sides of the border need to get back and forth quickly. Last December we had a snow emergency that closed the Blue Water Bridge [another major bridge crossing between Port Huron, Mich. and Sarnia, Ont.] and plants in Michigan and Ontario closed down as a result. So, it matters.”
Not only does increasing traffic capacity matter to current manufacturers but, says Norton, “It matters to future investors in those manufacturers because they’re concerned that 21st century transportation capacity is going to be there going forward. If it’s not, I’ve had enough companies tell me that it will be a serious consideration in their decision making as they contemplate whether to put their plants elsewhere.
“The Blue Water Bridge is at capacity now,” Norton continues. “The Ambassador is, and there’s congestion, to be sure.”
Norton reminds us that proverbially, “The truck going from Texas to Montreal encounters 17 traffic lights along the way. All in the city of Windsor, before it connects to our equivalent to your system of interstate highways.