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The City of Detroit has agreed to make a deal that will help a controversial local company develop a privately owned U.S.-Canada bridge that will compete with a new bridge being planned and backed by the Canadian government.

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Transport Minister Lisa Raitt has named the team that’s going to oversee the construction and operation of the new Detroit-Windsor bridge, the Canadian government’s strongest indication yet that it is determined to make the biggest public-private partnerships in Canadian history a reality.

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Detroit city councillors voted seven-to-two in favour of the deal with the Detroit International Bridge Co. Tuesday. The city agreed to hand over three acres of parkland the bridge company needs to build a second span next to the existing 86-year-old Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest international border crossing.

In exchange, the cash-strapped city will receive five different acres of park currently owned by the bridge company and US$3 million for park improvements up front. The city stands to receive an additional US$2 million later if state and federal governments approve the land swap.