There’s something in the works for Michigan’s international border — something so significant for North American economies that both Canada and Ohio are pressuring our lawmakers to go through with it. In the early years of the 21st century, the Michigan, U.S., Ontario and Canadian governments partnered to determine the feasibility of and eventually construct the Detroit River International Crossing, or DRIC, a second bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Traffic projections had indicated increased traffic flow in the near future and concern for the vital economic and military role of the Ambassador Bridge, which spurred the proposal of this project. Now, after years of preparation, tests, hearings and haggling, Michigan’s state senators will finally vote on whether to turn the plan into a reality.

There are several complex points of contention regarding this bridge, such as whether the traffic flow merits a second span and how the two nations will share influence over the structure. The private company that owns the Ambassador Bridge is also fighting to create its own second structure. Whether the bridge is justified or not, I can’t say. I do know, however, that there is one area that should be a central part of the debate, which lawmakers haven’t spent much time discussing: Delray.

If you’re driving on south I-75, you’ll pass through Dearborn and then into Detroit, riding the great arch of cement that rises over the industrial hub of the city. Looking out the window at what lies below, you’ll see what looks like a maze of burning furnaces. Gigantic, spewing pipes and noxious smokestacks tangle in a mess of gray, all obscured by the damp fog that hangs over the area. One of the pipes emits a stark stream of fire. Just next to this industrial pit, in the smudgy corner of your vision, is a neighborhood called Delray, where the poor air quality causes widespread asthma and other respiratory problems. Driving down a Delray street, more than half of the houses are vacant or leveled. The proposed Detroit River International Crossing would land right on top of the western side of this neighborhood.

The government can do that. It has a frightening, extremely powerful tool known as eminent domain, which allows it to take any private land, with just compensation, and use it for a public purpose. The DRIC falls into this category, not only because it will be created through a public-private partnership, but also because it will generally benefit the public. Intimidating as it is, this right has been tested and affirmed countless times by all levels of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court.

Although many residents of Delray originally opposed the plan to take their land, awareness of the difficulty of fighting eminent domain, along with acknowledgement of the area’s basic unmet needs, led them to a different strategy. Community leaders formed the Delray Community Benefits Coalition, which has focused on using the bridge construction to secure essential changes in the area. Their work has ranged from lobbying against the private company’s bridge in favor of the DRIC, to meeting with community members and determining which displaced families want new housing in Delray, to collaborating with the Urban Planning department at the University of Michigan in order to draft a Community Benefits Agreement.

Community Benefits Agreements have been used throughout the country, most significantly in negotiations for the Los Angeles Staples Center. These are agreements between affected communities and parties implementing a public project to provide such mitigations as air quality improvement, adequate housing or monetary compensation for relocating of members of the community, infrastructure improvements, job training and working toward new parks, greenways and other environmentally friendly projects. Beyond that, they are a way of acknowledging the sacrifice a community makes by giving up its land for such an endeavor. The State House of Representatives recently passed a bill that requires the Michigan Department of Transportation to help the community in forming these agreements, but it remains to be seen whether the Senate will acknowledge the needs of Delray when deciding on the DRIC legislation.

Even if you don’t believe the DRIC developers owe Delray any of those things, even if you don’t think the residents of Delray have a right to them, consider Michigan in the greater context of international trade. If the first thing trucks from Canada see when they cross the border is a neglected neighborhood polluted by industrial giants, it will forcefully send the message that this state is trapped by the unwise choices of its past, unable to move forward.

Carolyn Lusch can be reached at lcarolyn@umich.edu.