After months of lobbying and infighting, the board of the Michigan Strategic Fund voted on Wednesday to approve the issuing of nearly $800 billion in private bonds to fund the building of a second Ambassador Bridge span between Michigan and Canada. The bonds will be issued out of a $15 billion U.S. Department of Transportation fund that was intended to spur private investment in America’s transportation infrastructure.
 
The same board had refused to approve this same request in February, tabling the matter so that new board members could have more time to study it. That extra time paid off for Detroit International Bridge Company, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge. The company is putting up approximately $1 billion of their own money for the project but needed the additional bond issue in order to get it done.

A bipartisan group of legislators addressed the board on Wednesday, urging them to approve the bond issue because it will create jobs in the short run and increase the flow of goods across the border in the long run, strengthening Michigan’s economy.