The inclusion of $75 million for a new Soo Lock in President Trump’s budget proposal is a plus in the eyes of Congressman Fred Upton. He tells WSJM News a new lock to replace the Poe Lock, the largest of those shipping channels connecting Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes is needed in case the Poe Lock fails.
“Virtually all of the iron ore for all of the steel that we need — whether it be for autos, appliances, construction, all of that — it all comes through that one choke point,” Upton said.
Upton says the president’s $75 million request keeps momentum going on the new lock project.
“This will cost $1 billion, literally a billion dollars, but if we don’t start now, that cost will be more and so it was important that the president’s request did have money for this.”
Upton says the Poe Lock is critical to the nation’s economy, and it’s getting old. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says wall designs for the new lock will be finished in late 2019, and the construction contract could be awarded in the summer of 2020.
