UPDATED: St. Croix River Crossing Bill Passes Unanimously in Senate

The United States Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would allow a new bridge across the St. Croix River to be built from Oak Park Heights to north of Hudson, WI.

The bill now advances to the U.S. House of Representatives, where it faces certain opposition—including from MN Congressman .

“It’s no surprise that Senator Klobuchar’s bill passed the Senate," McCollum said in a statement released Monday evening. "But in the House, we need to find a common-sense compromise because a $700 million bridge across the St. Croix River is bad fiscal policy, bad transportation policy and bad environmental policy.”

Klobuchar announced the passage on her Senate website, calling the vote a "milestone" for the St. Croix bridge project.

"The residents and businesses in Stillwater and along the St. Croix River Valley deserve a safe, more efficient alternative to the current 80 year-old lift bridge, which is outdated for the needs of the region," she said. "I hope the House will now take action and pass this critical legislation so that we can move forward and build this bridge."

The Associated Press reports that the bill would exempt the bridge from the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

“Tonight, the long-anticipated St. Croix River Crossing Project reached a major victory," Rep Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) said in a statement. "The first of two hurdles towards necessary Congressional approval has been cleared by this legislation passing the Senate. I commend the bill’s sponsor, Senator Klobuchar, and its cosponsors, Senators Franken (MN), Johnson (WI) and Kohl (WI), for getting this legislation through without a single opposing vote.

“I look forward to the next step, which is passing this legislation in the House of Representatives. I am confident that this bill will be brought up before the House and the proposed St. Croix River Crossing Project will become a reality.”

But passage of Monday night's bill means Klobuchar still has to come up with $8 million in previously allocated transportation dollars to close the deal, the Star Tribune reports. Bachmann would have to do the same to get her bill through the House.

In a statement, the Coalition for the St. Croix River Crossing praised the work of elected officials taking a "bi-partisan approach" to the issue.

"Today’ action by the United State Senate is an historic step forward for this project and our region." Mike Wilhelmi, executive director of the Coalition for the St. Croix River Crossing said in a statement. "After so many decades of meetings, planning and waiting—we are closer than ever to getting this done. For the people in the St. Croix River Valley who have waited for decades for a new bridge, the light at the end of the tunnel tonight is brighter."

The project still faces a major hurdle locally in Oak Park Heights—and that's finding the money (upwards of $20 million) to relocate utilities along the approach to the proposed bridge on Highway 36.

The Sensible Stillwater Bridge Partnership responded to the news with a Facebook post that reads:

"We're extremely disappointed that the deliberative body that Walter Mondale called home for 12 years would so matter-of-factly clear construction of the Boondoggle Bridge, rejecting fiscal and environmental restraint, and tearing a hole in the 40-year-old Wild and Scenic Rivers Act."

Also taking it to Facebook, Stillwater Mayor Ken Harycki wrote:

"A short while ago Sen Klobuchar called to say that the bridge bill passed the Senate on a 100-0 vote. Sen Klobuchar sure is something. Just when you think nothing will work in Washington you see a great example of bipartisan behavior. On to the House now! The citizens of Stillwater owe Sen Klobuchar a great big thanks. From conversations with her, I know she was working very hard on this bill, even to the point of talking to Secretary LaHood at midnight! Let me say publicly: Senator Klobuchar THANKS!"

In a statement, Sen. Al Franken also praised Klobuchar's work on the bill.

"I urge the House to act quickly on this legislation," Franken said, "so we can finally get this bridge built.”