DETROIT– The proposed new public international bridge at the Windsor-Detroit gateway won’t be undermined by a recent land purchase by the man who has been trying to derail the project for years, a Michigan official insists.

In fact, says Bill Shreck, a spokesman for the Michigan Dept. of Transportation, the state could take the land through eminent domain if it needed it for the U.S. side of the crossing.

Central Transport owner, Manuel “Matty” Moroun — who also controls the private Ambassador Bridge — recently purchased a 42-acre truck terminal from struggling LTL carrier YRC.

The problem for the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) project is that the parcel of land is located in the southwest Detroit suburb of Delray, and partly overlaps the footprint of the proposed DRIC crossing.

Although Moroun has been trying to derail the DRIC project for years, a company spokesperson insists the truck yard purchase has nothing to do with DRIC. "There is a tremendous business case for doing this."

Publicly, at least, DRIC officials don’t seem concerned.

According to The Windsor Star, MDOT’s Shreck said the small part of land DRIC may require for access ramps to the new bridge is currently vacant.

He told the paper that the state could offer to buy the land and if that doesn’t work, the government could simply expropriate the land it needs if necessary.

"The state gets the property that they need, and the courts would decide on a fair price."

A courtroom may not be the arena the government wants to take this battle, though.

Moroun — who at the same time is trying to build his own twin span of the Ambassador — has faced off rivals, as well as both the Canadian and U.S. governments on bridge issues before; and typically he’s come out standing on both feet.