Michigan Proposes Raising Tolls Up to 85% at Blue Water Bridge Crossing to Canada
This story appears in the Nov. 30 print edition of Transport Topics.
Tolls could rise as much as 85% for trucks traveling across the Blue Water Bridge into Canada from Michigan as the state proposes to raise its rates higher than what Canada charges to make the reverse trip.
The Michigan Department of Transportation said it needs to reap $8 million to $10 million in additional toll revenues to maintain the bridge, which carries Interstate 69 traffic from Port Huron on the U.S. side to Sarnia, Ontario.
The toll increase, if adopted after public hearings, would take effect on Jan. 5.
Trucks that currently pay Michigan $1.75 per axle to cross the bridge to Canada would have to pay $3.25 per axle. Passenger cars would pay a flat $3 toll, compared with the $1.50 toll they now pay.
Trucks made 595,193 trips from Michigan into Canada through October, according to Blue Water Canada, which operates the ap-proaches to the bridge on the Canadian side.
Walter Heinritzi, executive director of the Michigan Trucking Association, said the association has not yet taken a position on the increase.
He added, however, that “we are sensitive to appropriate funding to fund Michigan’s infrastructure.”
Trucking needs bridges and good roads, he said, adding, “That’s how our people make their living.”
On the Canadian side of the crossing, the Ontario Trucking Association issued a statement blasting the proposed toll rates and said it has filed a formal objection with MDOT.
“OTA considers it entirely unreasonable and inappropriate that an 85% price hike would be imposed in one fell swoop with such short notice,” OTA President David Bradley said in the statement.
“Given the current economic times and the stress that has already been imposed on Michigan-Ontario trade, increases of this magnitude are untimely, to say the least,” Bradley said.
OTA acknowledged that on the Canadian side of the bridge, tolls are higher than those currently paid on the U.S. side, with cars paying $2.50 U.S. and trucks paying $2.75 U.S. per axle to cross over into Michigan.
OTA also said in its statement that it recognizes the need to generate infrastructure maintenance funding. OTA suggested that if necessary, though, the higher tolls should be phased in over a longer period of time or delayed six months.
OTA said it plans to raise its concerns at the public hearings MDOT has scheduled on the new toll rates.
The first hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1 at the MDOT Lansing Transportation Service Center. The second hearing is Dec. 2 at the Travel Information Center in Point Edward, Ontario. Hearings are planned that same day at the Port Huron Municipal Building.
Until Feb. 15, the Blue Water Bridge is the only crossing available to truckers carrying hazardous materials or oversize loads through Detroit to Windsor, Ontario.
The truck ferry service that normally moves such loads, which are prohibited on the Ambassador Bridge, is temporarily out of service while a new dock and terminal are being built on the Windsor side.
