The DRIC/NITC is the public option for a new bridge to Canada.

2008

• February: Gateway Project begins. Moves Interstates 75 and 96. The Bridge Co. is supposed to create new ramps to the Ambassador Bridge to alleviate truck traffic in Mexicantown and Southwest Detroit.

2011

Spring: Moroun announces Michigan Central Station will get new windows. The announcement is seen as a move to gain popular support for a private bridge option.

May

• State legislators rejected a plan to use $50M in funds from Canada to match Federal funds needed for the construction of the bridge.

June

• Americans For Prosperity posts fake eviction notices on houses in the area identified for the public bridge.
• Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Company, is ordered by Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards to appear at a contempt of court hearing on July 7. The bridge company was ordered to rebuild approaches to the bridge in February 2010. Stamper was briefly jailed for contempt by Edwards in January 2011.
• Matthew Moroun testifies to the Senate Economic Development Committee in favor of a second private bridge.
• The Bridge Co. promises to finish ramps between the bridge and highways by January 2012. Truck traffic on local streets has been a major source of pollution, noise, and congestion for local residents.
• Community and business leaders meet to tour Delray and discuss the proposed community benefits agreement.

July

• Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards instructs Safeco, the insurance company that bonded the Bridge Co.'s work on current ramps, to develop a plan for completing the work. The Bridge Co. has been in contempt of court after it was ordered to move the ramps and failed to do so.
• The state and the Bridge Co. disagree on traffic predictions for the New International Trade Crossing.
• Snyder tours the DRIC site in Delray, emphasizing the community benefits agreement.

August

• Safeco reports it can pay for the bridge work, but would not be able to complete it any sooner than the bridge company if it was ordered to take over.
• It appears that Moroun has concrete plans to follow through with the Michigan Central Station cleanup.
• Larger plazas on the new public bridge should make customs easier and faster, say public bridge supporters. The NITC plazas are planned to be 160 acres on the US side and 139 acres in Canada.

September

• Snyder wants the legislature to vote on the bridge by the end of October. A Senate committee is meeting with automakers, planning a public authority, working on community benefits agreements, checking financial impacts, and managing other issues.
• The Michigan Chamber of Commerce has come out in favor of the public bridge option.

October

• A poll paid for by supporters of the private bridge found less public support a public option (49% opposed). The question asked was: “There is currently a debate happening in the Michigan legislature regarding the building of a new bridge near Detroit that would provide an additional connection between Michigan and Canada. The new bridge would be funded, built and managed by the Michigan and Canadian governments. Do you support or oppose this proposal?”. It's unclear if other questions were asked.
• On October 19, the Senate Economic Development Committee suddenly postponed a vote on the bridge because a new version of the bill was introduced just before the committee was to vote.
• Robocalls connected voters to Snyder's office with a message agains the public bridge option. The Bridge Co. was behind the calls.
• Majority Leader Randy Richardville, who pushed Snyder's agenda in the Senate, said the bridge issue would have to wait until 2012 or later after it failed in the Senate Economic Development Committee. The two Democrats on the committee abstained because the bill proposed did not include community benefits for Delray. Moroun also spent millions on TV ads and robocalls.
• About 100 members of Bridge Watch Detroit, Occupy Detroit, and Good Jobs Now blocked trucks arriving from Canada to protest actions of the Bridge Co. Pastor Matthew Bode of Spirit of Hope Church, Rev. Charles Williams II, pastor of King Solomon Baptist Church, and Rashida Tlaib participated and addressed the group. Police arrived but did not make any arrests during the hour-long protest. Members threatened to return for longer periods of time if the bridge company doesn't react.

November

• Judge Prentis Edwards finds that the Bridge Co. is in civil contempt for it's Gateway Projet and has delayed the project by at least 3.5 years. He deferred sanctions until January 12, 2012.
• Snyder is widely expected to attempt to build the bridge without legislative approval, perhaps through a Federal partnership. The legislature would need to approve public expenditures, but the bridge may be possible without any expenses paid by Michigan. An executive order could form a bridge authority, but it could also be vetoed by the legislature.

Sources

• New Detroit River bridge plan not in 2012 highway bill. Free Press. 26 May 2011.
• Judge orders Bridge Co.'s Stamper to appear for contempt hearing. Free Press. 14 June 2011.
• Moroun: No reason private sector can't build next Canada bridge. Detroit News. 16 June 2011.