Take the tunnel, Windsor city councillor says as Ambassador Bridge owners lobby against new bridge
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A city councillor in Windsor, Ont., is encouraging Canadians who want to buy Canadian to travel from Windsor to Detroit through the Windsor-Detroit tunnel instead of crossing the Ambassador Bridge.
The City of Windsor owns half of the tunnel and receives dividends from its operation, Coun. Angelo Marignani said.
The bridge is privately owned by American billionaire Matthew Moroun.
“So every time you take the tunnel, you’re buying local, you’re supporting local, and you’re supporting the residents of Windsor,” Marignani said.
Marignani made his remarks after reports surfaced that Moroun had met with the U.S. commerce secretary just hours before U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to block the opening of a new publicly owned competing span, the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
The councillor said he’s not calling for a boycott of the Ambassador Bridge because “I believe that would overstep my balance.”
Seeking to educate
But he is seeking to educate the public about the difference in ownership, he said.
“I am just voicing the concerns that my residents have brought up on how we can support our city and support our country,” he said.
“And I’m just showing them that this is an option for them to choose.”
A spokesperson for the Ambassador Bridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tunnel CEO Tal Czudner echoed Marignani’s comments, saying the tunnel paid a $5-million dividend to the City of Windsor, which is reflected in the 2026 budget.
Angelo Marignani, Ward 7 councillor, is shown in a file photo. (Mike Evans/CBC)
“Listen,” he said. “Politically, the world’s a bit bonkers right now, and I don’t think it makes sense for me to comment on that. All I can comment on is if you are choosing to go to the United States … we would like you to take the tunnel.”
Crossing at the tunnel costs $8.25 for a single trip, Czudner said, or $5.90 per trip with a prepaid Nexpress card.
Crossing the Ambassador Bridge costs $14.
“Fourteen dollars goes to, you know, the billionaire,” he said.
“Or $5.90 helps go in the coffers of our company, which helps the City of Windsor when it comes to tax time and budget time.”
Asked if the tunnel could accommodate thousands of extra vehicles if the “buy Canadian” approach to border crossing takes hold, Czudner said it sees nowhere near the number of vehicles that it did prior to 2001, when advanced border security measures took hold in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Tal Czudner, CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel. (CBC)
In the 1980s and 1990s, the tunnel saw around 20,000 vehicles a day, he said.
Since Canada and the U.S. began requiring passports for cross-border travel, it has slipped to around 12,000.
“As long as you’re kind of OK waiting 15 or so minutes in the morning between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. and then after that you’re only going to be a few minutes … we have lots of capacity,” Czudner said.
“If you’re choosing to go to the States, take an extra minute, save seven bucks and take the tunnel.”
