As the construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge continues, a new study from the University of Windsor is looking at how the new international crossing can benefit Windsor and Detroit.
The University of Windsor's Cross Border Institute is pushing to establish a transportation and distribution cluster to reap the most out of the new bridge.
Institute Director, Dr. Bill Anderson, says we have to realize that the movement of goods isn't just providing goods and services for the people who live here.
"It's providing goods and services for a much broader market. And that's how it is with the automotive industry, of course people are making cars in Windsor, they're making them for people all over North America and all over the world," he says.
Anderson says it's not just for high tech people, although that's important.
"The point is there are many jobs and it creates economic opportunities for a whole region of different people that live in our region," he says.
Some will remember the push for a logistics hub that was dubbed the NAFTA Superhighway, to take advantage of the truck traffic moving through Windsor.
Anderson says more than half of Canada's trade moves on trucks and more of it comes through the Windsor-Detroit corridor than anywhere else.
"We're going to make that whole freight process more efficient so it's going to be beneficial to people in the industry. At the same time, it creates economic opportunities and jobs for people on both sides, not just on the Windsor side but on the Michigan side," he adds.
The study states that a cluster would consist of truck yards, facilities where containers can be transferred between trucks and rail, climate-controlled warehouses with on-site inspection areas for agricultural goods and pharmaceuticals, truck stops, customs brokers, and other firms involved in the movement and storage of goods.
But first, the Institute says a new international agency should be established to coordinate the growth.