Why We Shouldn’t Privatize All the Things
Here’s why it’s horrible to let private entities privately own necessary infrastructure. The Canadian government is offering to build – at its sole cost – a new bridge crossing between Ontario and Michigan, just South from Detroit. The Maroun family, which owns the private Ambassador Bridge – the only truck crossing in Detroit – has mounted an ad blitz to oppose the new, free bridge. And it’s working.
And this qualifies as “horrible” somehow…?
Rejecting a free bridge to maintain a private monopoly?
This sort of Privitizing Public thoroughfares always bothers me. I see some of the states that sold toll roads to various companies find that the need for profit can have a great negative affect on local economies. Besides local money in a couple of instances flows to Europe and maintenance a marginal subject.
Especially with the Maroun Family. They really did some dirt to Detroit on several occasions by modifying exit ramps and su ch that created traffic problems and expensive reactions by Detroit. They are not very cooperative managers.
The were determined to build a bridge across the Niagara River downstream or immediately upstream from the International RR Bridge. Both routes were terrible since the downstream one went through the richest habitat of the river and the other would have turned the Scajacuada into a six lane expressway.
Luckily for the slow pace of our review process they gave up about five years ago.
They will be back.They know how to make money exert power and ignore the Public Interest.
Where did they find these people?? The Maroun family and its bridge seem to be universally reviled by detroiters. Even the standard suburb/city divide dissolves when this bridge is mentioned. It is, by far, the worst maintained, most understaffed, poorest signed bridge I’ve crossed.