A member of city council wants to know if more community benefits could be made available for Windsor as part of the new arrangement between Canada and the U.S. that led to the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. City council voted Monday to send a letter to the federal government asking for more details and clarification around the new agreement and if there are community opportunities for the city under the new framework. Ward 9 Coun. Kieran McKenzie asked that the letter be sent because he believes there should be ongoing, consistent community funding made available as a part of a percentage of toll revenue. “Now that the conversation is happening and the deal has been opened up once again, I think all things are on the table,” he says. “We should, at the very least, be advocating on our own behalf for something that I think should have always happened in fairness to begin with.” The original deal to build the bridge stipulated that since Canada was paying the $6.4 billion in construction costs, Ottawa would collect 100 per cent of toll revenues until it recouped its full investment, after which they would be split by Canada and the state of Michigan. After U.S. President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials raised concerns about the original deal, a new agreement was agreed to in principle between the two countries last week, which would see Canada share 50 per cent of net bridge and crossing-related revenues with the U.S. for the first fifteen years, with the other 50 per cent going into an economic development fund. McKenzie says there have been investments, but the $10 million in community benefits are over. “The bridge is going to be here for 100 years. It’s been my position and many others for a long time that it shouldn’t be just a finite amount,” he says. “Whatever the community reinvestment fund or whatever you want to call it should be a function of the tolls that are collected across the entire lifespan of the bridge.” McKenzie says part of the tolls per crossing could create a constant revenue stream that Windsor and Detroit can access for being host to a binational piece of infrastructure. “It’s going to affect traffic flows and traffic patterns across our community and create, frankly, the need for further investment in infrastructure maintenance, which it has. The border infrastructure has been impacting municipal budgets for road maintenance for decades now,” he says. During the construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, $10 million was set aside for community benefit investments toward various infrastructure projects, community programs, and partnerships in Windsor between 2019 and 2026, with an additional $1.5 million incorporated in 2024. Some of the investments include $2.3 million for the Broadway Street Multi-Use Path, including the trailhead at Malden Park and Matchett Road underpass reconstruction; $350,000 for the Malden Park Observation Area; $200,000 in infrastructure improvements in McKee Park; and $100,000 to support the planting of over 430 trees and shrubs within various city parks.
