U.S. Struggles to Fund Great Lakes Waterway Maintenance

Efforts to modernize the U.S. waterways navigation system that carries iron ore, grain, limestone and other staples across the Great Lakes and Canada into the Midwest and beyond are running into budget constraints.

The Wall Street Journal reports there are issues concerning the Soo Locks that allow large commodities-hauling vessels to bypass rapids below Lake Superior and connect industrial suppliers to American factories. The largest lock, built in the 1960s and called the Poe Lock, has been shut down for repairs 20 times in the last 10 years and has been closed nine times since 2019.

Washington has earmarked $1.6 billion for the project, but the estimate for what’s needed is twice as much. A fractured Congress will need struggle to find that extra funding at a time when the benefits of government spending remain politically contentious.