Michigan lawmakers working to meet next week’s deadline for a final fiscal 2011 budget said it appears unlikely it will include a controversial proposal to build a new bridge over the nation’s busiest trade route linking Detroit and Windsor, Canada.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop told reporters that consensus on the bridge seemed unlikely.
The financing of the $5 billion project, which state officials hope to structure as a public-private partnership, has been particularly controversial.
U.S. and Canadian officials support the project. But critics say the span is unnecessary because the owner of the current crossing, the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, is already building a new span.
If lawmakers drop the P3 bridge bill, it would have to wait until next year under a new administration.
