’We need support’: Truck ferry operator seeks financial help from Michigan and Ottawa
The owner of the Detroit Windsor Truck Ferry is asking for $160,000 a month to keep afloat.
“For 33 years, we've been self sufficient. But the last years have been very difficult,” President Gregg Ward told CTV News. “I think Detroit-Windsor is the only location where you have private border crossings. It's a very anomalous situation. And then we need support. That's just the way it is.”
The truck ferry moves hazardous materials and over-sized loads across the border.
Explosives, and flammable solids and gases are not permitted to cross on the Ambassador Bridge.
The ferry can also accommodate bigger loads, according to Ward.
“Equipment and machinery can't cross the Ambassador Bridge if it's over 12 feet wide. We take trucks up to 20 feet wide,” said Ward.
When the Gordie Howe International Bridge opens, it will be equipped to handle hazardous goods.
Ward wants both sides of the border to share the $160,000 needed per month to keep the ferry operating until the bridge opens at the very least, and possibly, even after it opens to traffic.
“It's really odd that you're [Canada] spending billions of dollars to build a new bridge because you don't think there's adequate redundancy today,” said Ward. “And then you're going to allow one of the only crossings for hazmat, the only crossing for oversized trucks and critical freight during emergencies to close.”
Ward said more than 13,000 transports - many of them local - use the ferry in any given year, and if it closes, will have no choice but to add four hours onto their route and cross in Sarnia at the Bluewater Bridge.
Ward said Transport Canada has yet to reach out to him to discuss the future of the ferry.
Windsor-West MP Brian Masse has sent a letter to Transport Canada and Infrastructure Canada, warning of possible delays in the building of the Gordie Howe bridge and the battery plant in Windsor if the ferry is idled.
In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for Transport Canada confirmed the receipt of Masse’s letter and said they would respond to it “in due course”.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.