HOUGHTON, MI-- A Michigan Technological University project may have influenced a state plan to build a utility tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.
Last May Tech students shared their senior capstone project with lawmakers at the state Capitol. The project was a 21-foot-diameter, 4.1-mile underwater utility corridor that would house all utility lines that cross the Straits. The students called their design the Strunnel.
Several months after the presentation the state and Enbridge Energy announced a deal to create a utility corridor under the Straits. It was part of the decommissioning of the Straits portion of Line 5. The Governor signed a bill authorizing the tunnel into law on Wednesday.
State Senator Tom Casperson said the students’ ideas and research made passing the corridor bill easier and a quicker reality.
