Mayor Bob Massengill, speaking during his last full week as the mayor of Brookhaven, said he hopes the long-standing plan for the transportation hub has encountered its last obstacle on its nine-year trek toward becoming a reality.

"Now that the suit has been dropped, we can sign the contract and get this project moving," he said, referring to a lawsuit brought against the city by Roxie construction company Scarbrough Construction.

Scarbrough's bid on the project, which was $96,000 lower than the next lowest bidder, was thrown out on the basis of improper paperwork. After the bid was awarded to Paul Jackson and Son, Scarbrough protested the award.

But when Scarbrough owner Jan Scarbrough realized that the legal wrangling involved in the suit could hold up the project once again - this time possibly forever if the funds were revoked by the government due to time constraints - he decided to drop it, his attorney said.

"We'd been told back in February that the project needed to get started by summer," Massengill said. "Or there would be a possibility that the project would be in jeopardy."

Massengill said the fact that finalizing the plans for the multi-modal facility has taken almost a decade has just been what amounts to a run of weird luck.

"It's no one's fault that it's taken this long," he said. "It's just been one hurdle after another, but now we can accept the contract and we're ready to see this get under way."

And city officials have contended that the project is an important one not only because of its longevity and apparent stubbornness, but because it cleans up an area of town that can be considered an eyesore, especially when it's the first real impression of Brookhaven that people get from the train tracks.

The project was initially planned to be a multi-million dollar transportation hub. But through the years, the plan has been downsized to fit the budget.

Then there was the issue of dock height that became a rubbing point for the city. The Federal Railway Administration refused to allow the dock height on new facilities to be lower than 15 inches for boarding purposes, while Canadian National Railway officials said they would not settle for anything higher than 8 inches, as it could damage freight cars.

But after much ado, that worked itself out as well. Massengill said he's not the only one who will be glad to see the project, which he as referred to before as "the most frustrating project I've dealt with in five years as mayor," become reality.

"I think those boarding and disembarking the trains will be very pleased once it's complete," he said.