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Through our experiences with local officials and the public, we have compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions. This list is dynamic and changes as more questions are asked. Click on a question below to view our response. Should you have any further questions, please contact us.
We have also compiled a list of questions we have received from the website. Click here to read Your FAQs.
1. Who is the Ambassador Niagara Signature Bridge Group?
The Ambassador Niagara Signature Bridge Group (Ambassador Niagara) is a subsidiary of The Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC) and the Canadian Transit Company, which own and operate the Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario. The Ambassador Bridge is North America’s busiest border crossing.
The Detroit International Bridge and Canadian Transit Companies are holdings of Central Transport Inc., a trucking company owned by Detroit native Manuel J. “Matty” Moroun. Central Transport, formerly the Central Cartage Company of Detroit, purchased the bridge in 1979.
Click on the links below to learn more about traffic counts at Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, in comparison to other bridges within the larger Great Lakes Region.
Learn more about Ambassador at www.ambassadorbridge.com.
As the owners and operators of
the thriving Ambassador Bridge, we were invited to the region in 1999 at
the request of the Public Consensus Review Panel, a citizen review panel
investigating the feasibility of an additional international crossing. After a
preliminary investigation, we determined that this region houses a potentially
successful trade corridor.
Strengthening
this corridor by building a bridge presents a business opportunity that would
benefit both our company and the communities we would serve within the region.
3. Why do we need another bridge?
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which became effective on January 1, 1994, created the world's largest free trade area, encompassing Canada, the United States and Mexico. The effect of NAFTA on the growth of cross border trade has been remarkable. Currently, an average of 2.4 million trucks per year cross the two Niagara River bridges that allow truck traffic (the Peace and Lewiston-Queenston Bridges). The Ministry of Transportation Ontario predicts that truck traffic will grow at between 2.6% and 3.7% per year to 2031, an increase totaling 67.6% to 96.2%. In particular, the Ministry of Transportation Ontario states that the Peace Bridge has already seen a dramatic increase in truck traffic. Between 1995 and 2000, truck traffic at the Peace Bridge grew by 26%. (Source: Niagara Peninsula Transportation Needs Assessment Study, Executive Summary Report, page 4).
Our bridge will provide the expansion necessary to nurture the increase of trade in the Southern Ontario and Buffalo Niagara region.
4. Has a corridor study been completed?
Yes, we completed a corridor
study between 1999 and 2001 that included several corridors on Grand Island, a
corridor near Strawberry Island, the International Railroad Corridor and the
Peace Bridge Corridor. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility
of all potential corridors against the criteria we presented to the public in
November of 1999 at a meeting of the Public Consensus Review Panel. The
criteria used to evaluate the corridors included Costs, Schedule, Environmental
Impacts, Economic Impacts, Functionality and Aesthetics.
In consideration of these criteria, the
International Railroad Corridor outranked all other corridors.
The chart below illustrates the results of this ranking.
5. Why did you choose the International Railroad Corridor?
This corridor ranked the
highest among all of the corridors evaluated and enjoys numerous advantages
that cannot be matched in other corridors.
Beginning with the construction of the International Railroad
Bridge in 1873, this industrial corridor has functioned as an
international trade route for well over a century. With abundant property
available in the corridor, a state-of-the-art plaza can be built to service any
operating scenario. Additionally, numerous intermodal opportunities exist that will allow synergies
between truck and rail trade. More than 45 acres of property, located
entirely on brownfields, surplus rail property and other industrial sites, are available for
plazas in the United States and over 100 acres are available in Canada. No other
corridor offers as much flexibility in plaza design. This flexibility will facilitate the construction
of a world-class facility that meets all of the needs of bridge users and
United States and Canadian governments.
Both the interchange and the I-190 are capable of supporting the traffic volumes anticipated.
The capacity will be well within acceptable limits for more than 25 years, without the need
for additional modifications, according to the Greater Buffalo Niagara
Regional Transportation’s 2025 Long Range Plan, Figure 12-2B.
Because a high
percentage of trade traffic occurs during off-peak hours and will flow in the
opposite direction of peak traffic, the additional traffic generated by the
bridge will not impinge upon this artery’s maximum capacity. To facilitate ease
of use by both motorists and truckers within this artery, electronic messages
will be displayed in the plaza to display on the most efficient route
available.
7. How will this project benefit my community?
The project provides numerous benefits to people of the region, including:
8. How will the project affect air quality?
We take air quality seriously and will address all aspects of this issue thoroughly in the Environmental Assessment/Impact Statement, currently under preparation. The quality of the air is a result of numerous variables, including distance from and intensity of the source, as well as wind speed and direction. Our initial investigation indicates that the impact on air quality is less significant in the International Railroad Corridor than it is in the Peace Bridge Corridor. Ambassador Niagara will be studying potential air quality impacts as part of the environmental review process.
9. How much progress has Ambassador Niagara made in the Environmental Review Process?
We have begun the Environmental Assessment and are on schedule. To date we have:
A great start has been made in the realization of
this opportunity to fully develop this second
crossing, but several items still remain to be
accomplished, including completing the required
land acquisitions, continuing to gain public support
for a second crossing, completing the environmental
study & obtaining the required permits, and
constructing the project.
We are rapidly moving forward with our plan to
construct a new bridge that will link Fort Erie, Ontario with Buffalo, New
York. This visionary project includes the construction of both an elegant span,
traversing the waters of the Niagara River and the Black Rock Canal, and state-of-the-art inspection plazas, which will insure the efficient flow of cross
border traffic and trade. The project also includes construction of the
essential transportation infrastructure that is needed to insure that this border
crossing functions as a key connection between the transportation systems of
the United States and Canada.
10. How much will the project cost?
We have completed a detailed cost estimate as part of our business plan that shows the facility can be constructed for between $250M and $300M (US).
11. Who will pay for the project?
Ambassador Niagara will pay all project costs, including the bridge, the plazas, and the connecting roadway.
12. How much will the tolls be?
The cost of the tolls will be competitive in the marketplace and comparable to other crossings in the region. Examples of rates at the Ambassador Crossing between Detroit and Windsor can be found here.
13. When will your project be completed?
We plan to submit the environmental review is 2006 as part of our Presidential Permit application. The design process will partially overlap the study and construction. We anticipate the facility will be open to traffic by late 2008.
No. The Ambassador Niagara Signature Bridge Group is here for one
purpose and one purpose only: to build a successful international border
crossing between Buffalo, New York and Fort Erie, Ontario. It has been
our observation that trucks using the Peace Bridge and trucks using the
Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario carry
different commodities and are destined for different markets. This observation
was confirmed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in a February 2005 presentation, which unmasked myths on border crossings in Michigan. Slides 42 and 43 of this presentation, which can be downloaded from the MDOT site, debunk the myth that Michigan and New York are in competition.
Because border crossings between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan and Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York are not in competition, we see a business opportunity in the Western New York and Niagara Peninsula region and are forging ahead with our design and construction phases in order to seize this opportunity.
15. What effect does your project have on the Peace Bridge?
Our study clearly demonstrates the need for both the Peace Bridge and the Ambassador Niagara Bridge. Both bridges are necessary to support traffic volumes within this international corridor. All traffic projections indicate that traffic volumes in the region can support a second bridge, and we believe that the model used at the Niagara Falls bridges, featuring both auto-only bridges and a mixed vehicle bridge, is appropriate in the southern half of the peninsula as well. Further, upon completion of Ontario's mid-peninsula corridor, a component of the Niagara Peninsula Transportation Needs Assessment Study, a second bridge will meet the greatly increased traffic needs within the southern half of the Ontario peninsula.
From a community perspective and a business perspective, we think the region would be best served by designating the Peace Bridge as an auto-only bridge, moving commercial trucking operations to the industrial rail corridor. Regardless of what transpires at the Peace Bridge, we intend to move forward rapidly with the construction of a bridge within the International Railroad Corridor.
16. What effect does the Peace Bridge Authority (PBA) study have on your project?
Certainly there is considerable overlap between our study in the International Corridor, which began in July of 2004, and the studies conducted by the PBA, dating back to 1999. We have conducted a thorough corridor analysis to determine which corridor is most suitable for an international trade crossing. In cases where the studies overlap, regulatory agencies and the public will be briefed, in order to understand the advantages and disadvantages in both corridors.
17. What is Shared Border Management?
Shared Border Management (SBM) is a proposal currently under review that would shift most or all of the customs inspections activities to one side of the border. Agents from both sides would work in the host country. Including SBM, there are at least three possible operational scenarios that could be implemented at the Ambassador Niagara crossing.
1. The traditional scenario continues the current setting. United States agents work on the United States' side while Canadian agents work on the Canadian side. This scenario leaves the bridge unprotected, as very little inspection occurs before the bridge is accessed.
2. Reverse customs, meaning that Canadian agents work in the United States and United States agents work in Canada, ensures that all vehicles are inspected prior to accessing the bridge. Because of the high level of security this scenario provides, this scenario was recommended by the Canadian Senate Committee on National Secuirty and Defence in its June 2005 report, "Borderline Insecure." You can download the report (3.45 MB) from the Parliament website. Recommendation #18 calls for reverse customs; pages 40 - 42 disclose the reasons for the Committee's recommendation of this scenario.
3. Shared Border Management, where both Canadian and United States agents work entirely in Canada (or in the United States). The scenario also leaves the bridge unprotected, as the bridge can be accessed from one side without inspection. Additionally, the environmental impacts are more pronounced on the side of the border in which all of the operations occur.
Only the International Corridor provides the flexibility to allow any of these operational scenarios to be implemented.
18. Would you be willing to work with the PBA?
Yes, Ambassador Niagara has initiated two meetings with members of the PBA Board, staff members and project consultant, Jake Lamb. To date, these parties have been unwilling to work with us.
19. Does the PBA have exclusive, or franchise, rights to operate a bridge?
"The precedent is there. It has been done before . . . The question is what is the kind of border crossing that you want to have?" Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on the campaign trail, Saturday, January 13, 2006, as quoted by The Niagara Falls Review.
No. In 1923 the Canadian government granted the exclusivity, or "franchise," right to the private Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Company, which operated the Peace Bridge. That company no longer exists. The Buffalo and Fort Erie Peace Bridge Authority (PBA), established in 1934, is a public agency, mandated to serve in the best interest of the public.
The International Railroad corridor is a superior choice for the location of an international trade crossing. Out of fear of competition, the Peace Bridge Authority is claiming the right of franchise to prevent a second international crossing that would benefit communities in both the United States and Canada. This action does not serve in the best interest of the public.
