The Detroit River International Crossing Study (DRIC) focuses on the growing issues facing the Detroit river border crossings between Michigan and Ontario. The study outlines the impacts of increased traffic congestion and delays due to the growth of border traffic. The study also provides insight into the potential future impacts on cross-border freight activity and industries if this issue is not dealt with. Such impacts can be outlined in the 2005 report, Regional and National Economic Impact of Increasing Delay and Delay-Related Costs at the Detroit River crossings. The North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 1994 and solidified trade between Canada and the United States. Canada and the United States are the world’s largest …show more content…
Longer travel times, and lower average vehicle speeds lead to higher per unit costs per trip. This is broken into a cost per mile basis, which in accordance with increases in traffic found in Figure 1, will triple for commercial vehicles and double for passenger cars by 2035 (DRIC, 2005). These significant increases in travel costs will lead to a loss in production for both Canadian and American industries. Failure to address these problems could cost a combined US$748 million in annual production and output by 2025, between the economies of Michigan and Ontario. Combined losses could further reach upwards of US$10 billion annually, amongst the U.S. and Canada. The losses are summed up in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Projected Annual Foregone Production if constrained capacity, congestion and delay at Detroit River crossings are not addressed (DRIC, 2005) Such large production losses would directly lead to employment losses. These employment losses could lead up to 97000 by 2035 throughout all of Canada. Table 2 below summarizes the …show more content…
The parkway will connect Ontario Highway 401 to the new inspection plaza and international bridge. The parkway will improve traffic flow at border crossings, allowing for efficient movement of people and goods across the Canada - U.S. border. The construction of the access road is significant as it will be the first time an Ontario 400 Series highway will connect directly to the U.S. Interstate system. The access road is located in the municipalities of Windsor, LaSalle, and Tecumseh, in Ontario, Canada. The parkway was chosen as the solution that best fit the design criteria. The goal of the access road was to separate local and international traffic, while still maintaining the local and regional functions of the corridor all while minimizing direct and indirect property impacts (DRIC,