Marquette & Lundin Mining reach tentative trucking agreement

The city of Marquette and Lundin Mining have reached a tentative agreement to allow easier truck access to the Eagle Mine while ensuring upkeep of the city’s roads.

The City Commission’s Transportation Subcommittee has been working with Lundin officials for the last eight months on a possible agreement. The two sides presented the tentative agreement at a City Commission work session this morning.

One City Commissioner says Lundin has been very generous throughout the process, “offering to cover the wear and tear on the road, as well as continuing their commitment and the city’s commitment to work hard on trying to develop a bypass that would avoid both the citizens of Marquette and the townships surrounding with the increased traffic,” Marquette City Commissioner Mike Coyne said.

If a bypass were to be built, that step would still be several years away. Many more discussions with surrounding communities and other partners would need to take place first.

“We think this is a great development, not just for Lundin, but all truck traffic going through the city,” Eagle Mine senior adviser for communications and media relations Dan Blondeau said. “It’s going to provide some upgrades (to city roads). The bypass is a possibility, but right now we’re just concentrating on this agreement with the city and getting these upgrades taken care of. Hopefully, we’ll have sign-off by all parties involved on Monday and we’ll be able to move ahead.”

Specific details of what’s in the agreement are not available yet because attorneys still need to approve it. Coyne says the details will become public at the May 12th City Commission meeting.