MONROE (WWJ) — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg paid a visit to Southeast Michigan Monday afternoon, announcing a major investment for a crucial bridge along I-75 is right around the corner.
The I-75 bridge over the River Raisin in Monroe is going to be torn down and rebuilt, a nearly $350 million project that is expected to begin in 2028.
Buttigieg announced the project will receive $196 million million in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Bridge Investment Program and the Bridge Formula Program. The Michigan Department of Transportation will cover the roughly $150 million for the project.
Buttigieg said the bridge at Fort Street — which is “only a few years from going into critical condition” — is one of the 18 most “economically significant” bridges in the country, as more than 60,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day, with 25% of that being truck traffic.
“This is important, even if you don’t live anywhere near Monroe, Michigan,” Buttigieg said during Monday’s press conference. “Because the supply chains of this whole region and of the U.S. depend on the truck traffic that serves the port and that goes over this international border nearby.”