Just as most motorists in the area are well aware that the spring pothole season is upon us, the Marquette City Commission is also talking about it.

The commissioners did more than just talk about it this week, too, as they approved funding for a traffic study on one of the more well-traveled routes through the city.

Specifically, the commission identified the route that includes Marquette County Road 550, Sugar Loaf Avenue and Wright Street to be covered by the study.

This traffic corridor was decided upon because ore-hauling trucks from the Eagle Mine use it for 45 round trips a day to haul ore to the mine’s processing mill in Humboldt.

An Eagle Mine official in attendance at the commission meeting pointed out the company’s trucks only account for 3 percent of the traffic volume on Wright Street and 20 percent of the commercial truck traffic in the city.

There are many other heavy trucks that use the street, including those hauling logs, sand, gravel, cement, blacktop and various petroleum products.

The $43,000 study is being paid for with funds the city receives from Eagle Mine owners Lundin Mining Corp., though, and that is perhaps the reason Eagle Mine trucks were singled out by commissioners.

Under an agreement that will last as long as Eagle Mine ore is hauled through Marquette, the city will annually receive $500,000 for road repairs and $200,000 for safety improvements. The study is being funded with money from the latter category.

In keeping with the safety improvements theme, the study will go beyond just looking at the condition of the roadway.

Included will be accident data, traffic volumes and non-motorized activity along the route.

City officials said information gathered in the study will help guide planners, working together with Lundin, to develop a plan to best use the funding the city is receiving to make the route as safe as possible.

We believe this study is money well spent and could very well result in a traffic corridor that is much more comfortable and safe for all users of it.