Olympics: Rail Lines and Border Crossings

I have feelings too.

I am very disappointed in some of you. Imagine, a few of you doubting my BLOG's assertion that the joint Windsor/Detroit proposal to host the Olympics, whether one is actually made or not, would be Eddie's justification for a new bridge after he put his Tunnel deal to bed. Why it would not surprise me, the more that I think about it, that the Olympics will be used to help Eddie solve the unique security issue at the Tunnel too. I stated:

• "Here is how the Olympics will be used for the bridge pitch...
  
  We need the bridge NOW to be built by 2013. How else can we realistically make a proposal to the Olympic Committee if the border does not work. We need the hotels and facilities on both sides of the border as was shown during Super Bowl and we need a proper and redundant bridge and infrastructure because of the security concerns."
  
  

Oh I heard your snickers, your laughter, your guffaws. You thought I had lost it, that I was really stretching the point this time. Well check out this CTV story, especially about openness and transparency and the huge 23% cost increase, respecting the Vancouver Olympics and dare tell me I am wrong now. Apology accepted.

• "CTV News has learned the B.C. auditor general's report on Vancouver's Olympic budget will question costs associated with a $2-billion transit line.
  
  "They chose secrecy over transparency and arrogance over openness," New Democrat MLA Harry Bains told CTV Vancouver on Thursday.
  
  "I think it's unfortunate, because that does no good to the public trust, and the confidence we dearly need to make these Games a successful story for future generations."
  
  The total budget for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games has been set at $2 billion.
  
  Construction costs were originally set at $470 million, but that number has since increased to $580 million because of the city's strong economy. Last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged $55 million to help cover the rising costs -- an amount matched by the B.C. government.
  
  Meanwhile, crews are rushing to finish the new Canada Line, a 19.5 km rail line with 16 stations that will link the Vancouver airport to Richmond and downtown Vancouver. It must be finished in 2009, in advance of the Games.
  
  The auditor general's Olympic budget report will include some costs associated with the rapid transit line, but the exact amount is unknown.
  
  In 2003, Premier Gordon Campbell said the transit line was never meant to be part of the Games.
  
  "It was never part of the Olympic bid, it was never part of Olympic thrust, but I think it would be a great way of welcoming the world," he said in July 2003.
  
  The Canada Line is not the only expense the auditor general is expected to include in his report on the Olympic budget. Other costs include:
  
  Bains said he hopes the report will give taxpayers a better indication of what they will be paying for the Games.
  
  "I hope that the auditor general report will catch all of the Olympic-related costs, and add all that up and tell the public what the total cost is," said Bains."