news-St. Mary's River

The Little Rapids Bridge linking the Michigan Sault to Sugar Island opened to traffic late last month.  Members of the community have long been advocating for this project that was supported with over 9-million dollars in funding from the Federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative—that funding is the largest federal investment in the Great Lakes in the last two decades.
The Little Rapids has been historically some of the most productive spawning grounds in the Great Lakes and its is anticipated that this project will increase fish habitat.  The project involved replacing a causeway that funnelled water through two deteriorating undersized culverts.
This is the final anticipated project for the US side in addressing the St. Mary’s River designation as an Area of Concern.
The St. Mary’s River was designated as an Area of Concern or toxic hotspot back in 1987 under the Great Lakes Quality Agreement between the US and Canada.