DETROIT – While court arguments over the “Gateway Project” at the Ambassador Bridge continue, construction on one of the final pieces of the project may begin soon.

Officials in the Department of Transportation said they have gotten authority from the Federal Highway Administration to complete a section of ramp that will connect I-75 and I-96 to the customs sections on the entryway to the bridge.

The unfinished section is visible from the highway and is featured in an advertisement on the Gateway controversy being aired by the Detroit International Bridge Company.

The state is scheduled to file briefs on Friday with the Court of Appeals on arguments over an order by Wayne Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards on completing the project. On January 12, Mr. Edwards ordered both Matty Moroun, owner of the bridge, and Dan Stamper, president of the DIBC, jailed until the project was completed. After a night in Wayne County jail, the Court of Appeals ordered the men released while arguments on the order were held. The arguments are now scheduled for Thursday, February 2.

The section of the ramp could be completed by Memorial Day, department officials said, which could simplify and speed up movement of traffic, especially trucks to the bridge. Now trucks have to go through neighborhood streets to get the plaza.

Leading up to announcement, the two sides sparred over whether legal authority for the state to build on land owned by the DIBC had been transferred.

DIBC executives have said they granted the state all authority to enter onto the land and build the final portion of the ramp back in 2007.

State officials say the authority was only granted recently, and it still needed authority from the federal government. DIBC executives called that charge disingenuous.

In a statement, DIBC said the state has finally admitted finishing the Gateway project was its “responsibility all along.”

The statement also said the “fraud has damaged our company and our executives, and kept traffic going through the neighborhood for years. We are very upset about this, but relieved the biggest obstacle to the Gateway Project being completed is now underway.” The statement also made a bit of a dig at Edwards in saying, “We are hopeful even the judge will acknowledge this reality.”

But department officials posted on Facebook a question and answer page that insists it did not get the property transferred until December 14.

And the Q&A page also points out there are still a number of issues to resolve in completing the project. For example, the state charged the DIBC had not completed work to allow ramps to the bridge plaza to be opened.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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