The toll rates for the International Bridge that links Michigan and Ontario will increase in April from $12.50 for a five-axle truck to $15.
Current truck tolls are about $2.50 per axle; they will go to $3 in April. Passenger vehicles tolls will increase from $1.50 to $2.
Tolls are the bridge’s primary revenue source, and the increase is needed for improvements, says Phil Becker, general manager of the Joint International Bridge Authority.
Engineers estimate that the concrete bridge deck will need to be replaced in the next 15 years at a cost of $75 million. During this time, an additional $40 million will be needed to complete other bridge projects, such as painting and rebuilding the 45-year-old U.S. toll plaza.
Bridge traffic is half what it was in 1993, and toll rates in U.S. currency have not increased since 1968, the authority said.
