DETROIT — The U.S. Coast Guard says the Ambassador Bridge has not yet acquired the necessary permits to build a second span adjacent to the current bridge and has told the private company to stop construction until it does so.

Today, the USCG issued a "letter of abeyance" to the Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC), suspending the permit application process for the proposed Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project (ABEP).

The bridge company has been trying to secure the permits for the project, but it commenced work years ago on new, larger Customs plazas and toll booth lanes on both sides of the border.

"Prior to commencing construction of the bridge, DIBC must first obtain a Coast Guard Bridge Permit, since the proposed structure crosses a navigable waterway," the USCG stated in a press release it issued this morning.

The Coast Guard says it advised the company "on several occasions" that it is prohibited from issuing a bridge permit when "there is doubt of the right of the builder to construct and utilize a bridge."

The City of Detroit alleges that DIBC does not have the right to build on Riverside Park, in effect requiring a change in proposed design of the ABEP.

"DIBC has yet to provide the Coast Guard with evidence that they have acquired the necessary property rights for Riverside Park … as described in their bridge permit application and as analyzed by the (expansion project’s) environmental assessment," states the USCG.

Also, the letter states that the Michigan Dept. of Transportation is concerned that work for Gateway Project linking the new Customs plazas to I-75 isn’t being done "per the project’s contractual agreement."

Expansion project work at the foot of
the Ambassador has been ongoing for several years

It’s unclear whether the Coast Guard has the authority to force the company to pull the plug on the project, even temporarily. As the private company has proven before, it is fully confident that it has the legal right to continue working on the project while it irons out administrative issues, including property acquisitions.

Regardless, the USCG is sticking to its guns: "The Coast Guard has determined that the (expansion project) with the current information available, cannot be accurately evaluated."

The bridge company recently filed a lawsuit against DRIC, the binational body assigned to design and choose the location for a separate, public bridge crossing downriver of the Ambassador.

The suit alleges that the new bridge is an attempt to undercut the Ambassador. It also claims that the bridge would "devastate" the impoverished "community" of Delray — the southwest Detroit suburb located where the bridge is supposed to land on the U.S. side.