Open house for Blue Water Bridge plaza expansion set for Tuesday
Port Huron residents looking to get a closer look at plans for the long-awaited U.S. Customs Plaza expansion project at the Blue Water Bridge will get their chance on Tuesday.
The Michigan Department of Transportation is slated to host an open house from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Blue Water Bridge Annex, 2127 11th Ave., in Port Huron.
Public comment this month is just the latest step in a lengthy process to finalize plans for a new plaza after city officials pushed back late last year on features included in the most recent design — notably narrowed in scope and higher in cost than past iterations since drafts began more than a decade ago.
As of late November, revisions of the layout included constructing new facilities for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to address federal requirements, relocating duty-fee south of the bridge, splitting the intersection at Pine Grove and 10th avenues, and installing an entrance loop to the bridge along the Scott Avenue neighborhood.
It was the latter feature that spurred the most upset among city officials last fall and a request for MDOT to re-evaluate its impact on the Scott Avenue area. At the time, MDOT representatives told council they’d work on renderings of a barrier between residents and the loop.
“It has changed, and we’ve got different design renderings that would give a bird’s eye view of what it would look like if there is a sound wall,” MDOT regional spokesperson Jocelyn Garza said last Wednesday. “Or depending on (a) sound wall versus (an) aesthetic wall, that can change what that looks like pretty exponentially because sound walls have to be bigger. But there are different examples of what it would look like potentially from a street view, stuff like that, so people can have a better idea.”
In addition to making design visuals available, Garza said multiple stations would be set up for visitors to peruse in case of questions.
Although there won’t be a formal presentation for attendees to hear, the available station will address the history of the project, next steps, traffic and safety data, environmental information such as noise analysis, and aesthetics, including green space.
“So, people can spend as much time learning about any aspect of the project as they would like,” Garza said in a follow-up email. “And on that same note, if they want to skip a station entirely, they’re more than welcome.”
Garza said the current plans are about 25% smaller than the 2009 “preferred alternative” design that residents may have seen. Citing the changes, she said the new plan “takes into consideration the traffic patterns present in the community, including along Pine Grove.
As of 2020, when MDOT received a federal $25 million grant to support the plaza project, the total cost of the expansion was pegged in the $300 million range. In the two years since, however, estimates have been put well over $600 million.
On Wednesday, Garza said a group of officials was out distributing postcards, or door hangers to notify residents and property owners of Tuesday’s open house.
“It’s a little bit tough to make sure that we hit all the right markets because we know there are a lot of properties that are rented out,” she said. “Obviously, we want to include people that actually live at those properties, but we need to make sure that we’re also including people that own those properties.”
Attendees Tuesday will also be able to fill out comment cards or leave with a comment card if they need time to consider questions, she said.
“Our BWB Project Manager, Carrie Warren, is also making time for individual meetings if there is anyone that would like to further discuss the project,” Garza said via email. “Some people may find themselves more comfortable asking questions in a one-on-one meeting instead of in a group setting.”
MDOT officials hope to collect public input by mid-March.
For more information, visit Michigan.gov/bwbplaza.
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Open house for Blue Water Bridge plaza expansion set for Tuesday
