Skip to main content

International bridge opens new toll lanes, upgrades system

The Sault Ste Marie International Bridge, which connects Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, is opening new toll lanes and upgrading its system with new software and new frequent user discounts. The International Bridge Authority (IBA) began opening the new lanes this week as part of a US$7 million project undertaken in coordination with the Mackinac Bridge Authority and the Michigan portion of the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron. The toll software upgrades, which are necessary be
August 11, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The Sault Ste Marie International Bridge, which connects Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, is opening new toll lanes and upgrading its system with new software and new frequent user discounts.

The International Bridge Authority (IBA) began opening the new lanes this week as part of a US$7 million project undertaken in coordination with the Mackinac Bridge Authority and the Michigan portion of the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.

The toll software upgrades, which are necessary because the current software is obsolete and will no longer be supported, will cost US$2.4 million over ten years.

The IBA’s toll system upgrade is also being coordinated with the larger US$8.9 million toll plaza reconstruction effort.

IBA officials expect all three permanent northbound lanes and two permanent southbound lanes to be fully functional by 12 August. The remaining two permanent southbound lanes are slated to go online in late September after the demolition of the old IBA administration building. When complete, the toll plaza will have four southbound and three northbound lanes.

Related Content

  • Øresund bridges the front line for border crossing traffic
    September 15, 2016
    Timothy Compston considers the challenges faced by the operators of the Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, the largest structure of its kind across Europe. In light of the concerns about the ongoing security threat and the unprecedented flow of migrants, many of the countries that make up the Schengen Area in Europe have re-introduced border controls. For its part, Sweden has rolled out ID checks for train, bus and ferry passengers from Denmark placing the landmark Øresund Bridge very much on the fr
  • US IntelliDrive cooperative infrastructure programme
    February 2, 2012
    The 'rebranding' of the US's Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration programme as IntelliDrive marks an effort to make the whole undertaking more accessible both in terms of nomenclature and technology. Shelley Row, director of the ITS Joint Program Office within USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, talks about the changes
  • San Francisco's Presidio Parkway completed
    July 14, 2015
    The long-awaited Presidio Parkway in San Francisco has opened to traffic. The US$1.1 billion project relied on US$363 million in federal funds, as well as US$152.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and a US$150 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan. Since work began in 2009, the Presidio Parkway project replaced Doyle Drive, a 1.6-mile segment of SR-101 linking the city to the Golden Gate Bridge, connecting Marin and San Francisco counties, a
  • Massachusetts moves to cashless tolling
    March 28, 2013
    Drivers in Massachusetts may no longer need to worry about having cash on hand as they hit toll roads. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is planning to replace every tollbooth in the state with electronic tolling systems that read E-ZPass transponders in cars and send monthly bills to drivers who use toll roads without passes. “We’re trying to look at doing things faster, more efficiently and provide more information to the public,” said MassDOT Highway Administrator Frank DePaola.