Action by the U.S. Senate this week is a multibillion-dollar boon to Michigan in many ways, but the biggest deal of all is its approval of $3.2 billion to complete a new Soo Lock at Sault Ste. Marie.

We’ve been writing about this project for years, but Thursday’s action in the Senate actually comes very close to sealing the deal. And that’s worth stop-the-press kudos.

The Army Corps of Engineers is reportedly on schedule to complete the project by 2030. Although U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills, said earlier this year that the investment made possible by this National Defense Authorization Act could put the project ahead of schedule by as much as two years.

The locks have been around in some form or another since 1855, but only one is large enough to handle the size of many modern Great Lakes cargo ships. And that is considered a weak link in the North American industrial chain, according to a 2015 Department of Homeland Security Report.

About half of the iron ore used in U.S. steel mills flows through the locks during the open season from March to January, the report said, and an unexpected closure could send the economy into a recession-type freefall, costing billions of dollars and spiking unemployment rates.

We also want to applaud the fact that the momentum for this project started long ago – before the pandemic – in a bipartisan effort to do something good for Michigan.

Stabenow and Peters, along with Reps. Jack Bergman, Sandy Levin, Fred Upton, Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg, Dan Kildee, Mike Bishop, Debbie Dingell, Brenda Lawrence, John Moolenaar, Dave Trott, and Paul Mitchell introduced the Soo Locks Modernization Act together.

Their efforts to get this project passed extended through several administrations of governors and presidents.

The Marquette Mining Journal wrote about the Soo Lock project earlier this year: “Leaders at all levels — from Marquette County Commissioners, to state legislators, to presidents — have worked for years to make this dream a reality, and we must commend the staunch commitment of the many people who kept up the efforts to fund the massive undertaking.

“This is great news for the region, state and nation as a whole, as the Soo Locks serve as a critical maritime gateway for Great Lakes freighters to pick up and deliver products and materials that the entire nation — particularly manufacturers and the military — depends upon. And should the sole lock at the Soo Locks that can handle 1,000-foot freighters — the Poe Lock — suffer a failure, freighter traffic throughout the Great Lakes region could come to a grinding halt and fundamentally disrupt supply chains across the nation and world.”

We are well aware that some readers will deplore this development, viewing it as nothing more than an escalation of capacity intended for military purposes and connecting it to the proposed expansion of Camp Grayling. It’s true that other defense expenses are part of this bill, all of which pertain to the U.S. Defense Department. The act involves a myriad of issues, many of them concerning military matters.

Yet the Soo Locks are critical not just to our national security, they are critical to our economy.

As it stands, the only existing lock big enough to permit the largest cargo vessels to pass through it is 53 years old. If it was damaged, the impact on the U.S. economy would be severe. These are the big cargo ships that carry the iron ore pellets used to make steel – not just for tanks – but for cars and appliances, too.

Peters summed up the situation in a statement to the Mining Journal about the funding, describing the locks as “an economic and national security priority for Michigan and our nation.”

“With some of the pumps operating the locks being more than 100 years old, it was long overdue that we modernize such a critical piece of our infrastructure and ensure sustainability for the future.”

This is great news for Michigan – and the fact that it started with bipartisan collaboration makes it even greater.

— Traverse City Record-Eagle