MDOT update: here’s when we’ll know if more hazardous materials will be allowed on the Ambassador Bridge

During a virtual public information meeting, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) updated the Windsor-Detroit community on the status of the request, which started in 2020.

That is when the Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC) first asked for regulatory permission to allow transports carrying flammable liquids and corrosive substances on the bridge.

In November 2023, MDOT released “a hazardous material route registry study and report for the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit.”

In summary, it found while there is a “small difference” in state-wide risk by permitting the request, MDOT officials say it’s not significant enough “to make a compelling case for or against” the DIBC request.

According to MDOT officials, federal law requires they issue a final recommendation within 18 months.

At a virtual public meeting this week some Detroit residents who live near the bridge spoke out against the request.

Cinthya Casillas told MDOT she has “many concerns” including “the potential harms to the environment and the community in case of a spill, the poor state of the Ambassador Bridge (and) the lack of community preparedness in case of emergency.”

Jessica Trevino questioned why MDOT was embarking on this “unnecessary” project given the Gordie Howe International Bridge is well under construction.

“Your decision will come (out) May of 2025 and we have a new state-of-the art bridge that will most likely open up at the end of 2025, which really only means potentially, six months of trucks having to go a further route,” Trevino said.

Industry insiders however are in favour of a faster route across the border in southwestern Ontario.

Currently, most hazardous materials cross at the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia.

“Allowing Class 3 (flammable) and Class 8 (corrosive) hazardous materials to cross the Ambassador Bridge would reduce the miles driven on Michigan roads by more than 250,000 miles each year,” Garrick Taylor with the Border Trade Alliance told MDOT, noting that “would lead to less wear and tear on roads, fewer emissions, enhance road safety and be a better deal for taxpayers.”

The Ontario Trucking Association is in “full support” of the request, but according to Geoff Wood, they do not agree with MDOT’s recommendation that Class 3 and Class 8 trucks could be escorted.

“All of the other major border crossings, where these goods, where thousands of shipments (of) class 3 and class 8 shipments cross, do not need escorts," Wood told MDOT.

MDOT has extended the deadline for public comment to March 31, 2024, to give all possible stakeholders a chance to participate in the process.

After that, officials will compile all of the data, read all of the reports and consider all of the public input before making a final decision in May 2025.