Ambassador Bridges Goes Corrosive: Michigan Considers Permitting Hazardous Materials to Cross

May not seem like a big deal. But anything that could affect cross-border trade on the Ambassador Bridge could have huge ramifications. Why? From Bloomberg Business Week:

Twenty-five percent of U.S.-Canada truck freight moves across the bridge, some $82 billion worth of goods every year. That’s more than the U.S. exports to Germany or Japan.

So, in the trade world, this is a huge deal, one if it involved federal actors would be all over WaPo and the NYTimes.

So let’s check out the details of this proposed policy change, which would give hazardous waste truckers another option besides the Detroit-Windsor Truck ferry.

From yesterday’s Hill Times article: 

The Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge, is seeking permission from the Michigan government to let trucks carrying gas, propane, and other flammable and corrosive chemicals across the bridge.

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Under the proposed new rules, trucks carrying gases and chemicals would require Ambassador Bridge escort vehicles to make the trip across the span with them.

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Every day, more than 8,000 trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge, which is Canada’s busiest border crossing, noted Minister of Transport Denis Lebel (Roberval-Lac Saint Jean, Que.) in a column for this week’s transportation policy briefing in The Hill Times.

If the bridge is allowed to carry hazardous materials, the increase in truck traffic would likely be just a few dozen more vehicles a day, said Mr. Stamper.

The bridge carries 25 per cent of Canada-U.S. merchandise trade, worth almost $500-million a day, according to the bridge company.

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Commercial vehicles crossing the bridge pay a toll of between $3.25 and $5.25 an axle. At current rates, which don’t include a premium for hazardous materials, a typical semi-trailer truck with five axles would pay $26.25 to cross the bridge one way.

Check out the MDOT hazardous waste transportation study here.