Officials with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority are responding to a new report detailing concerns over rising costs to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
A report published April 19th details a financial review of the project by the federal government after the three groups bidding to build the crossing raised concerns over the budget expectations.
WDBA Director of Communications, Mark Butler explains the briefing followed the announcement in August of an extension of the RFP stage of the project. The published report says there were expert consultations on technical changes to accommodate the cost savings.
But Butler says safety was never in question as a result of changes. "With a critical piece of infrastructure, it has to be predicated on the design and the build on safety considerations and technical considerations. We will go beyond meeting those standards, we're going to exceed those."
Despite some changes, Butler says key elements like the pedestrian and bike lanes are not being removed. "That's not a cheap asset of the bridge, it's an expensive one. Certainly we have not reneged on that, it's continuing. I think the public will find that there will be many more features on the bridge."
Cost speculation for the Gordie Howe Bridge have jumped from initial estimates of $3-billion to the published report's figure of $4.8-billion, to a trial balloon figure from WDBA Chair Dwight Duncan of $7-10-billion.
"Some of the numbers that have been bandied around have been around for a number of years, they're outdate," says Butler. "We won't know the final cost figures until we get the proposals from the three proponent teams and until we sign the final contract with the private sector partner. So that will be in September."
Butler also issued a formal statement: "As a Canadian Crown corporation, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) must ensure that while fulfilling our mandate to delivering the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, we are providing value to Canadian taxpayers."