The company that owns the Ambassador Bridge has begun tearing down structures built as part of the Gateway construction project.
On Monday, Wayne County Judge Prentiss Edwards found the Detroit International Bridge Company in contempt of court. The judge even had Bridge Company President Dan Stamper briefly taken to jail.
Judge Edwards says the company violated a court order when it refused to tear down filling stations and a toll plaza it built as part of the Gateway Project. He ruled those structures illegal.
The Gateway Project was a joint effort between the Bridge Company and the state to connect the Ambassador Bridge and surrounding highways.
Southwest Detroit State Representative Rashida Tlabi says she’s “pleased” the judge set timelines for getting trucks off the community’s streets.
“He’s made it very clear that that needs to happen. That needs to be the heart of progress. And that’s exactly what the community and the public wanted to see.”
In a written statement, Bridge Company President Dan Stamper says state “bureaucrats” are using the Gateway Project as leverage because they want to build another border crossing further downriver.
