The Ottawa trucker protests over vaccine mandates is causing traffic delays on a major Detroit bridge
Reuters
- The Ambassador Bridge in Detroit was forced to close Monday night after the Ottawa trucker protests caused traffic delays.
- The Canadian truckers are demanding an end to Canada's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
- The bridge is the busiest international land border crossing in North America. Transportation leaders fear supply-chain problems.
The Ottawa trucker protests over COVID-19 vaccine mandates caused an hourslong traffic delay on a major Detroit bridge on Monday, forcing it to shut down.
The Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit, Michigan with Ontario, Canada, temporarily closed just before 8 p.m. ET on Monday, the Michigan Department of Transportation tweeted.
The bridge was still closed as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, MDOT tweeted.
Photos published Monday by the Windsor Star photographer Dan Janisse showed demonstrators from the Freedom Convoy waving Canadian flags and playing hockey among the convoy of trucks on the bridge.
The CBC reporter Chris Ensing tweeted that police told him it was "calm overnight" and that some transport trucks, who were not part of the protests, were able to move.
One lane of traffic was left open for motorists to cross into Canada, though it was slow-moving, CBC reported.
One trucker told CBC's Jacob Barker that he planned on staying on the bridge "for as long as it takes."
"Just drop all the mandates. They know that that's just a bunch of nonsense and they should just drop it so everybody can get to their real life," he said.
The Ambassador Bridge is a major route for transport trucks and trade, and is the busiest international land border crossing in North America.
The truckers' protest has sparked concern among Michigan transportation leaders about the impact it could have on businesses that rely on transported goods, The Detroit News reported.
The mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency on Monday in response to the 10-day occupation of truckers in the city center.
They are protesting Canada's vaccine mandate, which was imposed on January 15 and requires truckers to present proof of vaccination in order to cross the border. A similar mandate for US truckers was imposed on January 22.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was moved from his home as a safety precaution when the protest began, has said the protesters represent a "fringe minority."
His team did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/8GnywhD
No comments