This week the Michigan Department of Transportation received approval from the federal government to begin work on an entrance ramp that will carry truck traffic from the customs inspections area of the bridge to Interstates 75 and 96. The state transportation department claims that the company building the project had not provided all the necessary approval to begin construction of the ramp which runs, in part, over the company's property.

This is only the most recent chapter in this ongoing construction dispute. Earlier this month both the owner and president of the Detroit International Bridge Company were jailed for civil contempt for violating a court order to complete work on the Gateway project.

One issue that is apparently not in dispute is the need for additional capacity at the congested Detroit border crossing. The Gateway project was intended to ease this congestion, but there is now a proposal for a public bridge that would compete with the ambassador bridge. The company claims that the disputes over the Gateway project are a result of animosities spilling over from the dispute over the proposed new bridge.

While increasing capacity at the border is vital to our economic and trade goals, private investors also have their own economic welfare to take into account.

The dispute has now broadened in scope beyond courtroom litigation. The bridge company recently released another television advertisement criticizing the state and Governor and claiming that their actions are motivated by the desire to build a public bridge. The ad also criticizes the judge that jailed the officers of the bridge company.

Source: Detroit Free Press, "MDOT OK'd to work on bridge ramp; it may ease Gateway Project snag," Matt Helms, John Gallagher and Dawson Bell, Jan. 26, 2012