The Marquette City Commission unanimously approved Lundin Mining’s truck route through the city at its meeting Monday night.

The eight-year agreement will bring in millions of dollars of revenue to the city of Marquette.  The route starts on County Road 550, extending to Sugarloaf Avenue, then to Wright Street and down Wright Street through the city’s western border.

The commission saw the hauling route as the only option to keep the Eagle Mine operational.

“The (city’s transportation) committee and working with Lundin Mining came up with a good solution,” Marquette City Commissioner Don Ryan said.  “As I say, the option are either to not have the mine or have the trucks come through the city at this point.  There are no other options.”

“I think this option provides an opportunity for that to happen, but also provides some income for the city to deal with the impact of the trucks.”

The commission viewed the proposed route as a short term plan; creating a bypass is the ultimate goal for the commission.

“I think the mine has a major economic impact on our community and beyond.  It also has many benefits for this area,” Ryan said.  “I think this is a way to get us through the present period, but again, my first option is in the long term to get a bypass route, and I believe that’s possible within probably two years–if we can work with our neighbors and get the job done.”

Commissioner Sara Cambensy added the transportation committee and Lundin Mining will continue to meet to creating a bypass for the Eagle Mine’s trucks.

Mining trucks will start using the route September 1.

The Eagle Mine/Lundin Mining released a statement regarding the trucking route:

“We’re very happy to report that at tonight’s (Monday’s) Marquette City Commission meeting the Commissioners unanimously approved the agreement between the City and Eagle Mine for ore transport through the City.  After months of negotiations the finalized agreement will not only benefit Eagle Mine, but all road users.  Eagle Mine is committed to improving local infrastructure for benefit of the community, not just our operations. We’ve demonstrated this before by providing more than $50 million dollars in the public road systems and utilities that benefit the community and our business. We’ll continue to work with the City and other municipalities on long term solutions to truck traffic.”

To view the agreement, click here.