Tom Warne Report, 26 March 2012
A county judge in Michigan has lifted the civil contempt order against the Ambassador Bridge owners, saying they have followed his orders to give the controversial Gateway project back to the Michigan Department of Transportation. Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards said the company complied with the March 8 order for MDOT to take over control of the project, which included the company wiring $16 million this week to MDOT to finish the project, as well as tend a legal right of entry for the agency to enter onto Ambassador’s property to complete the work.
The ruling means bridge owners Manuel (Matty) Moroun, his son Matthew, and Detroit International Bridge Company President Dan Stamper are no longer threatened with jail or attending subsequent hearings in person. Bridge company attorney Godfrey Dillard said they would appeal the judge’s ruling that turned the entire Gateway project over to MDOT. “It’s a state takeover of personal property,” Dillard told reporters after the hearing.
The $230-million Gateway project is aimed at reducing border congestion by linking the Ambassador Bridge directly to interstate highways with new ramps and roads. Since planning began in the mid-’90′s, the project was a joint effort between MDOT and DIBC, which each planned to build crucial parts under the 2004 contract. The court found the company in civil contempt for stalling over the past two years and in January, Edwards jailed the elder 84-year-old Moroun and Stamper to force compliance with the contempt order. The men were freed after one night by a Michigan Court of Appeals, but ruled Edwards could return the men to jail if necessary in the future.
In 2009, MDOT sued the bridge company for not building the project according to plans, and claimed DIBC instead constructed an expensive duty-free complex and the beginning of what the company hoped to be a second span to Canada in the region where Gateway was to be. Edwards ruled in favor of MDOT, and in February 2010 ordered DIBC to remove those structures and complete the original design of Gateway.
If you have ever dealt with crossing into or out of Canada from the Detroit area over the Ambassador Bridge you will appreciate how critical the need is for improvement. It is long overdue. Hopefully this action will move this project along. TW