Toll of time: A last visit to the Toll Booths
Toll of time: One of the first to cross the International Bridge makes a last visit to the old toll booths
July 21, 2014 — The year Barb Reiter was 12, she missed Halloween in order to take a special trip up north to Sault Ste. Marie with her truck driver dad. “I was 12 and it was Halloween, so I missed trick-or-treating,” she said. “So you guys owe me some candy.”
Instead, Barb spent the day as she often did, riding along with her dad on his runs to pick
up lumber from Canada and return it to a furniture plant in Muskegon. This trip was one of the most memorable. Instead of crossing the St. Marys River on a ferry, which could take up to two hours including wait time, they had the honor of being in the first commercial vehicle to cross the brand new International Bridge.
An old photo shows Barb and her father, Carl, paying the toll as they head northbound across the bridge on Oct. 31, 1962. Barb vividly remembers the crowd that greeted her and her dad as they headed back south down I-75 after the ceremonial crossing.