LANSING, Mich. — Selling a Michigan bridge could be the solution to fixing the crumbling Michigan roads.
The State House Committee is proposing its budget Thursday that will ask the State Department of Transportation to solicit bids for the Blue Water Bridge.
The chair of the committee says selling the bridge could raise almost $800 million.
That money could be put towards fixing the roads as opposed to Governor Whitmer's 45-cent per gallon tax increase.
A spokesperson for the State House says the committee's budget will also request bids for small airports, some rest stops, and one rail line for transportation funding.
The spokesperson says the plan will give lawmakers a better idea of what assets Michigan has.
The Blue Water Bridge is actually two bridges.
The first bridge opened in 1938 and the second bridge opened in 1997.
The bridge stretches across the Saint Clair River connecting Port Huron and Canada.
The U.S. owns the Michigan side and Canada owns the other half.
It's not clear if the bridge sale proposal will be included in the senate version of the budget.
Republican leaders have rejected the governor's gas hike proposal, but have not released a road funding plan of their own.
House Speaker Lee Chattifield and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey won't rule out the possibility a road funding agreement dragging into the next fiscal year, which begins October 1.
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