[OhioGuy]

Ambassador Bridge owners file court action to stop rival NITC bridge

The owners of the Ambassador Bridge said in court papers filed Thursday the U.S. State Department had no right to issue a permit for a new rival span to be built across the Detroit River and asked a judge to throw it out despite the agency’s decades-long history of signing off on international bridges and crossings.

The filing by lawyers for Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun in U.S. District Court in Washington had been widely anticipated since the State Department, on April 12, issued what’s known as a presidential permit — one of the final clearances needed before construction on the New International Trade Crossing, or NITC, could begin.

“It’s straight from their playbook. No surprise at all,” said Ken Silfven, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Snyder, whose office is party to the agreement with the Canadian government to build the new bridge. “But the bridge company’s interests are self-serving. We’re looking out for the thousands of Michigan families who need the jobs resulting from the NITC.”