Gateway Project Meant to Link Ambassador Bridge, Freeway

DETROIT (WJBK) -- The Gateway Project was supposed to clear the way for trucks to access the freeway instead of crowding city streets. Instead, Matty Moroun is accused of routing traffic for personal gain at the expense of citizens of southwest Detroit.

Trucks should be able to exit onto the freeway. Instead, they're exiting onto city streets.

It's a constant struggle for people who live and work in southwest Detroit in the Delray community.

"We get the brunt of it in this community," explained Scott Brines. "That's very disruptive to the high school, to the churches."

It's not just a traffic issue, says Brines. He lives in the area and is the president of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition. He claims it's also a health issue. The pollutants, he says, contribute to increased asthma in the area.

"The rates are three times as high in the Ambassador Bridge area, so that's attributed to the truck traffic. We know that, and there needs to be a solution."

They thought they had a solution when the Gateway Project was announced, but that gateway to the freeway has been a bridge to nowhere with Matty Moroun accused of instead routing bridge traffic past his duty free store and fuel pumps making millions, all while truck traffic clutters city streets and neighborhoods.

"They don't want to come through communities. They want the most direct route, and that's what it's designed for. Let's make it work. Let's make it happen. They have the power to do it. They've been ordered to do it. We need to see results," Brines told us.