Michigan Wants Moroun Trucking Terminal for Gordie Howe Bridge
Another dispute is building between Michigan and Manuel "Matty" Moroun involving the Gordie Howe Bridge. This time, it's the state wanting to take some of the Ambassador Bridge owner's property in southwest Detroit.
The state says it needs a portion of a 42-acre trucking terminal Moroun owns to build an approach to the new Gordie Howe Bridge, a project the trucking and shipping magnate has strongly opposed because it will rival his Ambassador Bridge. Moroun's companies have been reluctant to fully cooperate with the state's property-acquisition efforts, which are moving ahead while a twin Ambassador Bridge is being pursued by the Morouns.
“Obviously, we got to have it,” said Mohammed Alghurabi, a project manager for the Michigan Department of Transportation. “If you’re going to build your river-crossing span, you have to connect it to your approach.”
MDOT filed a civil complaint in Wayne County Circuit Court in February seeking financial records from several of Moroun's companies. The financial data would help the state make an offer to pay for the property because it would shed light on how taking the property would harm Moroun's business operations.
The civil complaint was filed under the Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act, which sets rules for the state's taking of land by eminent domain. The process begins with figuring out how to compensate the property owner.
Lawyers for the Moroun family's business interests, including former Attorney General Mike Cox, argue that although the state's request for information is excessive, about 500 pages of documents have been provided. State officials have not decided if the financial information provided by Moroun's companies is sufficient.
Although Moroun's companies have shown a degree of cooperation with MDOT, a footnote within a recent court filing says the Morouns "intend to challenge MDOT's authority and right to take its property under the federal and Michigan constitutions."
The friction over the financial records is one aspect of what could be a protracted legal fight over Moroun's terminal, which was acquired about six years ago after plans for the Gordie Howe Bridge were made public.
Maroun spokesman Mickey Blashfield declined to comment due to the pending litigation.
The lawsuit MDOT filed against Moroun's companies is one of at least two it has filed against property owners in the Gordie Howe Bridge’s footprint, and is part of a much larger strategy to acquire land in Detroit’s Delray neighborhood needed to build the bridge. Construction is projected to start next year.
MDOT's Alghurabi said the acquisition of commercial property in the bridge's footprint is a fluid process. He said the state hopes to acquire Moroun's terminal "as soon as possible," adding that construction of the bridge will take four years once it begins.
MDOT needs to control up to 800 parcels in the southwest Detroit neighborhood to provide room for the approaches to the bridge and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection plaza. MDOT has classified 54 properties in the bridge's footprint as commercial. Alghurabi said three compensation offers have been made to commercial property owners so far.
"My understanding is that MDOT has, in its time line, taken into consideration that some of the commercial relocation may take longer than the residential properties, especially considering the Moroun properties, but as far as I know, nothing is off track time-wise for relocation. The Gordie Howe International Bridge has been progressing," said state Rep. Stephanie Chang, a Democrat whose district includes southwest Detroit.
MDOT's civil complaint was filed in February after several Moroun companies — Riverview-Trenton Railroad Co., CenTra, Central Transport International, Detroit International Bridge Co., DIB Detroit and Crown Enterprises — did not voluntarily produce records requested in letters dated Nov. 30.
Those letters followed a brief dispute over access to the terminal. The Free Press reported in November that Moroun's companies granted permission, after initially refusing, for MDOT to access the trucking terminal so the agency can survey and conduct other work toward property acquisition.
