Windsor-Detroit border still busiest, most valuable

By Dalson Chen, Windsor Star

WINDSOR, Ont. -- The Windsor-Detroit border is still America’s busiest and most valuable land transportation gateway, says a new study by the U.S. federal bureau of transportation statistics.

Based on 2008 data, the study ranked our local border crossing the top U.S. land-based freight gateway and fifth out of all U.S. freight gateways (including sea and air) in terms of total value of shipments.

According to the study, the Windsor-Detroit crossing (which includes the Ambassador Bridge, the tunnel, the rail tunnel and truck ferries) moved $120 billion in U.S. trade in 2008 — $54 billion in imports and $66 billion in exports.

That’s 15 per cent of the value of all U.S. land trade, states the study.

The study found that 1,510,000 trucks entered the U.S. via the Detroit gateway in 2008 — which is actually a decline compared to 2007 figures.

The study predicts that the downward trend in truck traffic may continue, stating that “the decline in production by the Big Three automakers... and the overall slowdown in heavy manufacturing activities are likely to continue to influence freight traffic at Detroit's land facilities and in the freight transportation corridors they serve.”

Nevertheless, the study still makes special mention of the Windsor-Detroit crossing as being important in the context of NAFTA and border security.

“The confluence of transportation issues presented at the Detroit gateway underscores the complexity that characterizes the flow of land trade today,” states the study’s introduction.

Congestion, infrastructure management, and environmental impact remain “critical concerns,” according to the study.

The study devotes a couple of paragraphs to summarizing potential crossing improvements — including the DRIC project and the privately planned but unapproved twinning of the Ambassador Bridge.

However, the study does not make any specific recommendations on the situation.

The Research and Innovative Technology Administration, which co-ordinates U.S. Department of Transportation research, released the study last week. Prior to that, their most recent study on U.S. freight transportation gateways was done in 2004.

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