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<DOCID>International_Bridge,_Taking_its_Toll.doc.txt</DOCID>
<AUTHOR>John Petkus</AUTHOR>
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On Wednesday, November 29 a public forum was conducted at the Ramada Plaza Hotel Ojibway in Sault Ste Marie Michigan, concerning a proposal to raise the toll for the International Bridge which spans the St. Marys River.   This was brought up by the Joint International Bridge Authority (JIBA) to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and, if adopted, could have impacts on many students here at LSSU.

Construction on the International Bridge began on September 16, 1960 and was opened to the traffic a little over two years later (on October 31st 1962) with construction costs of about $21 million (US). The bridge has approximately 1,850,000 vehicles that drive across it every year in both directions and in 2006 will bring in a projected $4.3 million dollars in revenue, making the bridge completely self sustaining.

Here comes the bad news.   The bridge deck, which is constructed of concrete, will need to start being replaced within the next 15 years at an estimated expense of $75 million.  Plans are also in place to reconstruct the Canadian Customs Plaza, with an approximate cost of $40 million.  With these upcoming expenditures the current toll amounts will simply not be enough to compensate and would create an illegal deficit in the JIBA annual budget beginning in 2009.   By 2030 the deficit spending would climb to well over $100 million (US) annually.  

To boil down the cold hard facts from all that technical mumbo jumbo, the truth is that the International Bridge will be flat broke without any means of sustaining itself.   As the federal policy is such that toll bridges must be self sustaining, few if any additional funds can be expected from that department.   

The Joint International Bridge Authority responded with a proposal to increase the tolls for people crossing the bridge to increase the revenue gained and decrease the deficit that would occur.   While not a final solution by any means, it estimates that the increase of tolls would push back the deficit date until 2018 by which time other methods of paying for reconstruction can be found.

If this proposal is passed, tolls on passenger cars and light duty trucks will increase from $1.50 to $2.00, and frequent users of the bridge using the IQ Card method will move from paying $0.80 to an increased rate of $1.40.   The Canadian currency equivalents would continue to be based on a 6 month exchange rate average as compared to American currency as is the case now.   If approved, the proposal will come into affect on the April 1st 2007.

How is this going to affect Lake Superior State University?   The most obvious factor is that commuter Canadian students crossing the bridge daily will have to spend more money to get to classes.   This also has an impact on students traveling to Canada to have a good time and an enjoyable evening across the river.   Students with tighter budgets may travel to Canada less frequently or not at all.   

Mr. Phil Becker, P.E. the General Manager of JIBA, believes that the toll increases will cause an estimated 3% decrease in overall bridge traffic, but that even with the decrease in traffic the additional revenues gained by the additional toll fees will generate $1.2 million more then the current fees.   He pointed out at the meeting that even with the higher tolls, the International Bridge still, for the most part, charges less then the average similar crossings all over the country.

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