The Marquette County Economic Development Corp. (EDC) received a federal grant of $180,000 earlier this year to study the feasibility of an international expressway across the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to Duluth, Minn.
Jay Schervenske, director of the EDC, says that the highway would be part of a larger infrastructure to foster trade between the United States and Canada. "The highway would be the cornerstone for longer-term efforts," Schervenske says.
The study will assess the economic impact of an improved transportation system on the regional economy, which Schervenske says includes the upper-tier states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and even farther west into North Dakota. "The highway would greatly benefit the region," Schervenske adds, "especially in view of US/Canadian trade." Tourism would also benefit, he says.
U.P. leaders have considered the highway a priority for a number of years, but the grant brings the project one step closer to reality by presenting the opportunity to determine the most efficient route and determine funding options. The study, which begins this fall will take two years to complete.
—Nettie Pignatello
