U.S. Coast Guard Halts Ambassador Bridge Project

The Coast Guard terminated an application for the Detroit International Bridge Co. to build a new bridge adjacent to its 81-year-old Ambassador Bridge.

Officials cited several “uncertainties” that had not been resolved since the Coast Guard put the application in abeyance last June.

“Since June and despite meetings between the Coast Guard and DIBC there has been no resolution of the issues which resulted in the abeyance,” according to a Coast Guard statement.

Coast Guard cited problems such as a contractual dispute between the company and the state of Michigan over DIBC’s share of the Gateway Project, a large-scale construction project to connect the bridge to Interstate 75 in southwest Detroit.

Another issue is a dispute with the city of Detroit over ownership of a portion of Riverside Park on the Detroit River, which DIBC needs to build its six-lane cable-stayed bridge.

Last month a state circuit judge ordered DIBC to demolish toll booths, a duty-free shop and gas pumps it determined had been illegally built on city-owned property. The company appealed the order.

DIBC has drawn fire from community groups for what the groups consider the company’s high-handed tactics. The government of Canada also opposes the company’s bridge proposal.

Canada and the United States are trying to move forward with construction of a publicly-owned bridge about a mile west of the Ambassador Bridge but have met resistance from the bridge company.

Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.