Ambassador Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down..."

Another Windsor Star story, a front-page one too today, to scare us about the structural condition of the Ambassador Bridge. How tedious already.

It is clear now that the Ambassador Bridge condition and the fees of David Estrin will be used as the justification for Council's "public" meeting. The Mayor and Council needed to have some excuse tonight at their "in camera" session before the Council meeting. The Star story makes another good reason doesn't it to get people worked up for another crossing! Heck, both Sam Schwartz and Brian Masse MP are quoted so it must be a big deal.

Is that the best that can be done? We've had the "terrorist" stories already from Senator Kenny, the Mayor's idea for Nexus subsidies to get Americans through the massive tie-ups at the Tunnel and again, the Bridge being at risk. What a way to get tourists over here and new investment!

I wonder if the Mayor can convince Sam to take a contract to inspect the bridge via his new Windsor office. After all, "Schwartz is recognized as an expert on suspension bridges based on his tenure as traffic engineer in New York."

If C-44 also is not going to be law soon as the Star story suggests, then the underpinning of what the Mayor may want to do on the border has been lost. No public authority to control the borders. Even the Feds have realized that a Bill focused on the Ambassador Bridge Company will not stand up legally and will result in a massive lawsuit!

Here is a letter I sent to Sam Schwartz back in June when he delivered a speech in Windsor commenting on the Bridge:

• "Sam,
  
  I heard your speech today and was disappointed in you.
  
  You showed a picture of Tower Bridge in London, England as an example of a signature bridge that Windsor should build yet you seemed to take great delight in pointing out "deficiencies" with the Ambassador Bridge. Did you know that Tower Bridge took 8 years to build and that it was completed in 1894.
  
  In New York City, your home town, the Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883, the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903, the Manhattan Bridge in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge in 1909 and the George Washington Bridge in 1931. The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco was finished in 1937. The general contract for construction of the Ambassador Bridge was signed July 20, 1927 and just over two years later - on November 11, 1929 - the Ambassador Bridge was ready for operation.
  
  Sure these bridges require maintenance and even reconstruction but they are still standing and are working. So why the "scare stories" about the Ambassador Bridge. [During the 1990's, the DOT invested more than $600 million in the Williamsburg Bridge. In 1991, the NYCDOT began a major rehabilitation of the Williamsburg Bridge. The program was designed to undo the effects of age, weather, increased traffic volumes and deferred maintenance and prepare the bridge for another 100 years of service to the City of New York. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/willb.html ]
  
  We need facts, Sam, if we are to move forward, not nursery rhymes."