DETROIT - The Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project is the largest single construction contract ever undertaken by the Michigan Department of Transportation - and it looks like it.

The $230 million investment is expected to improve traffic flow at the Ambassador Bridge, and help drivers navigating the area freeway interchanges leading to I-75 and I-96 and Mexicantown.

But before the project concludes, there's going to be some suffering for motorists. Their pain began Feb. 25, when MDOT closed a portion of I-75 - the most heavily traveled north-south artery in the region - and the freeway is not expected to reopen until December 2009, at the latest.

"The Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project is the front porch to commerce
and trade in Michigan, creating jobs through the busiest border crossing in
North America," said Gov. Jennifer Granholm. "I am proud to say that this project will transform the local community and stimulate investment in our central city and beyond."

The closure of 1.5 miles of I-75 between Rosa Park Blvd. and Clark St. is part of Phase 4 of the entire project. That phase began last summer, and includes construction of a Bagley Avenue pedestrian bridge to unite portions of Mexicantown separated by I-75.

"Phase 4 alone costs $170 million - it's the big one," said Victor Judnic, senior delivery engineer for MDOT. He said construction crews are working long single shifts, mostly during daylight hours. He said after-hours work will also take place, for tasks like concrete pours and site cleanup.

"We've moved down in the hole, we're now working more on the freeway itself," Judnic said. "There's now less interaction with the neighbors who live pretty close to the work, and that's generally a good thing."

Phase 4 also includes I-96 freeway reconstruction from I-75 to Warren Ave, new ramps for the proposed Ambassador Bridge Plaza, new ramps between the freeway and Vernor Hwy. and Mexicantown, reconstruction and rehabilitation of more than 20 bridges over I-75 and I-96, and a new sound wall along a portion of southbound I-75.

Walter Toebe is the prime contractor on the project. Judnic said MDOT has $8 million in incentives built into the contract, which is expected to shave months off the December 2009 deadline.

According to MDOT, the Detroit-Windsor border is the busiest border crossing in the world. About 11 million vehicles cross the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor each year, and about $1.1 billion in goods cross the border each day. Detroit handles at least 43 percent more trade than the second
busiest crossing in Laredo, Texas.

More than 40 percent of the trade between the U.S. and Canada takes place at Detroit or Port Huron.

WORKING ON A CONCRETE wall alongside the I-75 and I-96 freeway split in Southwest Detroit is Edward Gaddies of Laborers Local 1191. The entire closure of a 1.5 mile-section of the I-75 freeway - rather than closing just a couple lanes - is expected to reduce the construction timetable down from four years to less than two years.