Magna International Inc. plans to invest nearly $6 million in its Highland Park, Mich., facility and add 148 new jobs, thanks in part to a public-private investment to rebuild badly deteriorating freeway service drives near its facility.
The Michigan Department of Transportation awarded a $777,749 Transportation Economic Development Fund Category grant to the city of Highland Park to help rebuild the service drives for Davison Freeway, according to a news release. The city will contribute $233,100 in matching funds for the project, which will cost $1,010,849 total, the released stated.
MDOT said Highland Park will reconstruct both directions of the Davison service drives from Oakland Avenue east to the Detroit Connecting Railroad's bridge.
Magna was considering locating its expansion in Ontario or Tennessee because of the poor condition of the roads. The company said the streets were so deteriorated the company's trucks and products were getting damaged as a result, according to the release.
"This program provides a way to target specific infrastructure challenges that would otherwise directly and negatively affect economic growth," said Frank W. Ervin III, senior director of government affairs for Magna International. "The improvement of the Davison service drives will allow us to more easily support our customers from our Highland Park facility and make a positive economic impact in the community."