The Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC), also known as the New International Trade Crossing (NITC), is the largest and most ambitious binational border infrastructure project along the Canada – United States border.
The project includes a new six-lane bridge across the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan, associated border inspection plazas, and connections to the freeway systems in Ontario and Michigan. This project will provide an essential new alternative crossing for Canada’s Continental Gateway and trade corridor.
The new bridge will increase trade and investment between Canada and the U.S. and help to create thousands of jobs and opportunities on both sides of the border. It will provide enhanced border crossing capacity to accommodate existing traffic at the Windsor-Detroit trade corridor and the expected increase in traffic over the years to come. The new bridge will also provide a much-needed crossing alternative at the busiest Canada-U.S. commercial border crossing.
The Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement, signed in June 2012 by Canada and Michigan, provided a framework for the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the new publicly-owned bridge. The Crossing Agreement called for the establishment of both a crossing authority, known as the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), to deliver, procure and fund the project through a public-private partnership (P3) and an International Authority to oversee the project procurement and the compliance with the Crossing Agreement.
July 2014
