Matty Moroun
Update: Monday, 10:30 p.m. -- Some city officials including Mayor Mike Duggan are skeptical of Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun's latest bid to try and derail the Michigan-Canada bridge by offering to buy more than 300 parcels of land the city planned to sell for a government-built bridge.
According to the Detroit News, Duggan called the offer an obvious "effort to derail” the the new bridge. “I don’t think it’s likely to win any support,” he said.
Moroun opposes the bridge that will be built by Canada and Michigan because he wants to build his own private bridge in addition to the Ambassador Bridge he already operates.
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From Earlier in the Day
Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun doesn't give up easy.
He's sued. He's waged a holy-like war against the state of Michigan and Canada to prevent the construction of a government-built, Detroit-Windsor bridge. And he's failed so far in his bid to build a second bridge of his own from Detroit to Canada.
Now the latest:
Laura Berman of The Detroit News writes that Moroun has submitted a competing bid to the Detroit City Council for more than 300 parcels of vacant land near the site of the planned new state-backed bridge over the Detroit River.
Berman writes that the council was expected this week to sign off and sell the Delray land to the Michigan Department of Transportation for $1.4 million so construction can begin for of the so-called New International Trade Crossing, to be jointly built with Canada.
A sale to Moroun would effectively halt the Canada-Michigan project.
Berman writes:
But the company controlled by Moroun has stepped forward with an offer of $1.5 million — plus an additional $1 million to redevelop the Delray land. The council was expected to discuss the matter today.
