WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and the Obama administration are being pressed by members of Michigan’s congressional delegation to make a long-awaited expansion of the Blue Water Bridge’s customs plaza part of next year’s budget plan, something Johnson alluded to possibly happening earlier in the year.
In a letter to Johnson sent Thursday, U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both D-Mich., and U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, argued that the delay of the expansion — a $165-million project dating back more than a decade for which more than 100 properties were initially demolished — continues to be a hardship for St. Clair County and Port Huron, where the Blue Water Bridge crosses into Canada.
“These communities are negatively impacted by the loss of potential revenue as the land required for the plaza expansion sits vacant,” they wrote. “Port Huron’s bond rating has been negatively impacted due to a lack of revenue from the plaza. New revenue gained from construction and operation of the customs plaza would help offset the years of lost property tax revenue.”