International Falls Bridge Toll Increase, Community Members Concerned

International Falls, Minn. — The International Bridge across the borderland of International Falls and Fort Frances has a new and higher price tag to cross, leaving some residents and local leaders concerned. The bridge is privately owned and the owners say the increase is necessary.

For the people who live in International Falls and Fort Frances, the bridge between them is a lifeline. It sees around 1,100 crossings per day. International Falls Resident Jana Reff is one of them. “I used to do all of my doctoring in Canada,” Reff explained.

She currently lives in international falls, but she was raised across the border in Fort Frances. “I’ve grown up over there pretty much. I spent a lot of my childhood over there.” She often crosses the bridge to see family and utilizes a range of resources in both communities.

Fort Frances Resident Douglas Judson is also reeling in the feeling of concern. “This is the busiest crossing into Northwestern, Ontario from the United States and to see that access constrained in such a significant way is really troubling.”

The constraint Judson referred to has to do with a price hike in crossing tolls. While there is no toll to enter the U.S., there is a fee to cross into Canada.

As of November 1, the price to cross for a typical vehicle increased from $7  to $9 per crossing. Starting in January, the price to buy a 12-trip discounted bridge card, used by locals and regular crossers, will go from $22 to $72 U.S. money.

International Falls Mayor Harley Droba explained, the change is not just water under the bridge. “It is detrimental. It’s going to be about 200% more expensive. We’re talking about the difference between $2 a day crossing to $6 a day crossing.”

Meanwhile, residents are stockpiling the multi-trip bridge cards before the January increase. “All of the businesses in the local area have run out of bridge cards. I’ve never heard of that,” a statement by Reff.

This bridge is unique. According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, it’s the only privately owned bridge connecting Minnesota and Ontario.

The original toll structure began when the bridge was connected to private paper mill operations. The reason for this goes back to its roots in 1914.

That’s when the Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company, which owned and operated paper plants on both sides of the border, built the bridge to connect its enterprises.

“It was part of their business operations, so they could subsidize the cost of operating the bridge,” said Mayor Droba.

Over the years, the paper plants were bought out by separate owners. In the states, it was the Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), formerly known as Boise. In Fort Frances, it was Resolute Forest Products. And while the Fort Frances mill shut down in 2014, the bridge remained jointly owned by those two paper companies.

That is until 2021 and 2022 when both PCA and Resolute sold their shares to Aazhogan LP – a partnership between tribal band Rainy River First Nations and the BMI Group in Canada.

BMI Group President and Aazhogan LP Director Paul Veldman had this to say, “we bought it at, when you think of bridge ownership, the worst of times; that being Covid and there being regulations on both sides of the bridge.”

According to Veldman, the number of people crossing has not resumed as expected after the pandemic. “And that was something, frankly, we did not anticipate. We thought 2023 would be the year to really see that traffic come back to call it pre-Covid numbers, 2019 numbers, and it simply hasn’t.”

Veldman said, the lag in traffic along with the cost of routine maintenance and other unforeseen problems are the reasons behind the prices going up. “The rationale for the increase was to ensure a sustainable operation and that it is able to cover its operating costs.”

So, with the new toll prices, just how much new annual revenue will it increase? Aazhogan LP declined to say.

Earlier in this story we mentioned Fort Frances Resident Douglas Judson. When the bridge originally went up for sale, Judson was a member of the Fort Frances City Council. At that time, Judson said he already had some concerns, including possible price hikes to get across in the future.

“Both International Falls MN and Fort Frances are small, very remote communities. So, a lot of services that we have locally only exist on one side of the border or the other.”

Judson, who is also a lawyer with extensive knowledge of Canadian law, said the city council adopted a resolution regarding the importance of the bridge to the local economy and sent it to both provincial and federal lawmakers.

“What we asked the federal government to do is that apart of its approval, if it wasn’t prepared to buy the bridge outright and make it a public asset, that it look at putting in place conditions to protect the community economically, including conditions on tolls.”

Judson said, he and local leaders on both sides of the border are once again asking the U.S. and Canadian governments to get involved.

As for community members like Jana Reff, who also happens to be a First Nations Tribal Member, the increase has her and others searching for solutions. “I think it’s going to make me smarter about my trips when I go across.”

Many residents may find themselves looking for ways to reduce costs and change how they live their lives. “Like instead of going three or four times a week, I might have to cut it down to two or three times a week,” said Reff.

Meanwhile, Veldman said, Aazhogan LP understands the concerns and that important conversations are going on. “I think what I can say today is that the partnership is hearing everyone loud and clear and I think the government is hearing folks loud and clear and that we’re going to be apart of meetings to see how we can come to a resolution to decrease the impact on the local commuter.”

On the U.S. side of the border, there is also a Land Port of Entry project in the works. This will alter where people cross the bridge into Fort Frances.

With this in mind, Mayor Droba says it might be time to consider more changes. “Now is the time to build a new bridge. If you’re changing that entry system, also moving the bridge would be a perfect time to do that.”

Droba said some state lawmakers have taken notice. He said the Minnesota Senate Capital Investment Committee was recently in town. They were looking at the bridge, its condition and the overall situation.