Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Prentis Edwards once again declared the Detroit International Bridge Company in contempt of court this morning for failing to complete the Gateway Project.

The project, intended to better connect the Ambassador Bridge with interstate highways, cost Michigan taxpayers over $200 million and was supposed to have been completed by April 2008.

However, the DIBC and the Michigan Department of Transportation locked horns over the project’s scope of work. The Gateway Project remains uncompleted.

In February 2010, Judge Edwards ruled the DIBC must “construct a two-lane access road, relocate conflicting structures, and complete its portion of the Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project Agreement in accordance with plans attached to the Performance Bond and the Maintenance Agreement.”

In January 2011, Edwards ruled DIBC was in contempt of court for failing to comply with his order, and briefly jailed DIBC President Dan Stamper.

The ordered work still has not taken place to the court’s satisfaction because DIBC again finds itself in contempt of court. Edwards said there was “clear and unequivocal evidence” that the DIBC failed to comply with the February 2010 order.

“We are approximately three-and-a-half years past the latest anticipated completion date for this project,” Edwards said, when making his ruling. “It’s been over a year-and-a-half since the February 1, 2010 order was entered, almost ten months have passed since the January 10, 2011 order was entered. There still remain significant differences between the construction, the proposed construction plans, and the approved design.”

Edwards scheduled a January 12, 2012 hearing to impose sanctions. He further ordered DIBC owner Matty Moroun and company executives to appear in his courtroom for the hearing. He did not rule out the possibility of jailing Moroun or DIBC officers.

MDOT is requesting the appointment of an independent receiver to complete the Gateway Project in place of DIBC. Edwards scheduled a December 1 hearing to hear arguments on that potentiality.

After today’s hearing, MDOT engineer Tony Kratofil said the DIBC has not moved fast enough to complete the project as initially agreed upon. He cited DIBC’s delays in removing disputed duty-free store and gas station (the “conflicting structures” mentioned in the court order) as an example.

“They had started doing some work on the gas pumps,” said Kratofil. “They removed the canopy. They removed the pumps. That’s like taking the faucets off the sink when you were told to take the house down. They’ve begun superficial work. But, clearly, they’ve had a couple years to really do this. If that’s all they can get accomplished, then clearly their intent is not to get this done.”

Neither Stamper, who attended today’s hearing, nor DIBC lawyers would comment after the ruling.

Edwards also ordered DIBC to perform necessary construction work between now and the scheduled January 12, 2012 hearing to comply with the initial court order.