Straight shot up U.S. 31 to I-94 finally open; 50-year project was stalled with no money
After a long pause caused by a mid-2000s state highway funding crunch, Michigan officials have completed a 50-year-old project to connect the Indiana Toll Road and I-94.
They’ve done it by finishing a short stretch of U.S. 31 from Napier Avenue in Berrien County to I-94, opening the connection Wednesday.
Jeff Rea, president and CEO of both the South Bend Regional and Greater Niles chambers of commerce, said he thinks the smoother connection will help him and developers market the area to prospective employers.
“People are just thrilled; this is a long time in the making and it’s just a critical transportation link for our whole region,” Rea said. “We really sell this connection with Detroit and the east. We’re heavy with a lot of automotive suppliers. This was just a small barrier that’s finally been overcome.”
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Traffic already could move between U.S. 31 and I-94 by using a roughly 1-mile stretch of Napier Avenue. But Rea said logistics firms have told him that kind of stopping, turning, accelerating back up to speed and interacting more with traffic at the Napier ramps poses more safety risks, and over time more wear-and-tear on trucks, than simply merging unimpeded at the new U.S. 31/I-94 interchange’s ramps.
At Portage Prairie, near U.S. 31 and Cleveland/Adams roads on South Bend’s northwestern edge, 14 warehousing and distribution centers have been built over the past 15 years. Four more projects are in the works, including one that Great Lakes Capital is building “on spec,” meaning without tenants confirmed before construction.
Jeff Smoke, the firm’s managing director, said he drove the new connection Thursday and thinks it will help Portage Prairie.
“It only enhances what’s already a great location in the Portage Prairie Industrial Park,” Smoke said. “I don’t know the exact time that it saves, but it is something we talk about in our marketing to our tenants. Minutes and extra miles count for these logistics companies, and it is helpful as we try to attract tenants into our growing business park.”
The Michigan Department of Transportation launched the larger project in 1972 when it began building the new U.S. 31 highway north from the Indiana-Michigan state line. But in 2004, work halted on the final 4-mile stretch from Napier Avenue to I-94 when then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm froze major highway expansion projects as gasoline prices spiked during the Iraq War, said MDOT spokesman Nick Schirripa.
Original plans called for U.S. 31 to proceed almost due north to I-94 but MDOT knew that wouldn’t work because it would run through the Blue Creek Fen, a boggy area home to one of North America’s largest habitats for the federally endangered Mitchell’s satyr butterfly. MDOT won federal approval of an alternate route to the west, connecting at the I-94 Business Loop interchange instead of the I-94/U.S. 196 interchange.
That approval had already come to Michigan by 2004, but completing the project, ultimately costing $121.5 million stalled for lack of funding. The state resumed work in the spring of 2020, after securing $20 million in federal money secured by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, $94 million in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan bonding initiative, and another $7.5 million in MDOT annual funding. The work also included rebuilding the two I-94 interchanges, reconstructing 3.5 miles on I-94, building several new bridges and repairing several others.
Pat Leets, president of Cross Aluminum, an aluminum door components maker at the U.S. 31/U.S. 12 interchange, said his drivers will enjoy the convenience of the new connection. But he said he doesn’t see it having significant economic development impact.
“I’m glad we’re having it done finally,” Leets said. “I don’t think just finishing up the road is going to matter with (attracting new employers to the region). I think it’s convenience for the truck drivers more than cost saving because it’s only a small stretch there.”
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But that small bit of convenience can add up to significant savings, according to Paul Phair.
Phair, vice president of development at Holladay Properties, which has developed three logistics and distribution centers in Portage Prairie, four more near the U.S. 31/Cleveland Road interchange, and plans another one this spring, said the connection "is a real economic development thing."
By his calculations, the new connection will shave 10 minutes from trips heading north. That might not sound like a lot but for a firm that makes the trip daily, it can add up to three to four days of time annually, Phair said.
"If you make that trip on a regular basis north into Michigan it can save you serious time and money both," Phair said. "It's probably not on the same scope as what we've seen on 31 going south but it's in that same vein."
Mapping out the project
1972: Michigan begins extending U.S. 31 north from Indiana
2004: Michigan stops the project at Napier Avenue for lack of funding
2020: Work on the final roughly 2-mile stretch connecting to I-94 begins
Nov. 9, 2022: Completed project opens for traffic
$121.5 million: Total cost to finish final segment and related work on I-94.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana Toll Road now connects to I-94 after 50-year project concludes
