DALLAS — An agreement on staffing for a new customs facility in Detroit removes the final roadblock for construction of a proposed $3.3 billion bridge linking the U.S. and Canada.
The project will be structured as a public-private partnership, with a private concessionaire responsible for building, operating, and maintaining the span for up to 50 years.
The federal Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that it would staff, operate, and maintain the customs plaza in Detroit. Private investors will pay for the construction of the customs plazas on both sides of the New International Trade Crossing Bridge.
Funding will include tax-exempt bonds supported with availability payments by Canada to the P3 from toll revenues.
It would be Detroit's second international bridge. The 85-year-old privately owned Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel account for a quarter of the $658 billion annual trade between the two countries.
The new six-lane bridge spanning the Detroit River is to be completed in 2020.
DHS said staffing and operating the Detroit customs facility will cost $100 million in the first year of operations and $50 million a year afterward.
Partners in the new staffing pact include Michigan, Transport Canada, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of State, and the General Services Administration.
A 2012 agreement between Canada and Michigan created entities to finance and build the project.
The International Authority, with a board of three Americans and three Canadians, will oversee the P3 process and compliance with the agreement.
The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which reports to oversight panel, will be responsible for financing and construction. It will manage the P3 concession, and set and collect tolls.
The financial package for the bridge project includes $950 million from private investors. Canada also agreed to loan $550 million to Michigan that the state can use as its match for up to $2.2 billion of federal highway funds for other state transportation projects.
The bridge itself is expected to cost $1 billion, with each customs plaza set to cost $250 million to $300 million. The project includes highway interchanges to connect with roads in both countries.
The bridge would be a direct connection between I-75 and I-94 in Michigan and Ontario Highway 401.
The State Department approved a permit for the international bridge in 2013 and the U.S. Coast Guard gave its go-ahead to the proposal last year.
Canadian Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt said the Detroit-Windsor Bridge is one of Canada's biggest infrastructure priorities.
"This arrangement ensures that all the elements of the project will ultimately be delivered through a public-private partnership," she said. "It also allows Canada and Michigan to move the project forward immediately to its next steps which include further design work and property acquisition on the U.S. side of the border."
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said the agreement gets the bridge project under way after 12 years of planning.
"The Canadians will front the money and then it will be paid back through tolls," he said.
