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Lawmakers will soon decide the future of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie.
Governor Rick Snyder was among several Michigan leaders who toured the locks last week.
“This is about our national economy,” said Gov. Rick Snyder. “We all know we need to invest in infrastructure, but we need to decide the priority.”
Senator Gary Peters was among those getting an up-close look.
“When you go through it, you realize how things are getting done and the structure is very old,” said Sen. Gary Peters. “We saw pumps that are used that were from 100 years ago.”
Congressman Jack Bergman has also expressed his support to build a new lock.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us as a country to succeed,” said Rep. Jack Bergman. “It’s not as democrats or republicans, but us a country.”
Nearly 7,000 vessels carrying 86 million tons of cargo pass through the Soo Locks every year, making the facility a vital part of the economy.
A new lock is expected to cost $600 million to $1 billion.
That money would come from the Federal Government, which authorized the construction of a new lock back in 1986, but nothing was ever built.
Senator Debbie Stabenow says now is the time.
“This has been talked about for a very long time at various levels, but never had the synergy of everybody coming together to do it,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
The new lock would take 8-10 years to construct.
Bipartisan legislation in support of a new lock will be introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate this week.
