Positive Plaza Alternatives
Which would be worse?

     Port Huron getting stuck with an expanded Bridge Plaza?

     Or Port Huron getting stuck with an expanded Bridge Plaza while reaping no benefit from it?

"Come, let us reason together."          Isaiah 1:18a

Take a look at our enhanced Articles page to see some thinking that defies the conventional wisdom about the Plaza and economic opportunity in the County.

Like to think for yourself? Positive Plaza Alternatives Challenge to see what you haven't been being told!

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Positive Plaza Alternatives

THE ALTERNATIVES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS

The draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Blue Water Bridge Plaza Expansion has been released. Along with this document, MDOT has opened a period of public comment on the four plan options still under consideration. We'll take a look at the four options, and what each could do for Port Huron and St. Clair County in the long run. The idea is to get thinking beyond simplistic knee-jerk reactions, and consider what will reap the most long-term benefits for Port Huron, the Blue Water Area, and the state.

One thing to remember about the period of public comment: when MDOT says that it will consider the input of parties affected by the Plaza project, that means all parties affected - which is a lot more than the citizens of Port Huron. It means federal government agencies, the State legislative and executive branches, highway planners, residents of area cities and counties, and even diplomatic considerations (since this is an international border). This means that though the opinions of Port Huron residents will be considered, they will not be the sole factor in the final decision - or even the primary one.

That understood, let's take a look at the alternatives are presented in the DEIS.

No-build alternative:

(here on the MDOT website.) This would mean leaving the Plaza as it is. Some Port Huron residents - including some officals - think this a good idea. Let's look at the pros and cons:
  PRO:
  • Port Huron gets to retain the property taxes from a few blocks of aging, mostly Proposal-A capped neighborhood and a handful of businesses - about 1.5% of its tax base.
 CON:
  • Commercial and passenger traffic continues to back up on the Blue Water Bridge, hindering tourism and commerce and polluting the air
  • The current Plaza design continues to pipe traffic out of the City and away from the area
  • Port Huron and St. Clair County continue to receive essentially no benefit from being border communities
  • Hundreds of millions of dollars which the construction of a major public works project would provide will go elsewhere
  • The Blue Water Area will lose out on a major government facility, with all the jobs and ancillary spending that go with it.
  • The inadequate border facility continues to hinder development of economic alternatives to the automotive industry
 
To us, this looks like a no-brainer - but then, we're not on the Port Huron City Council. You can see why we call this the second-worst outcome for the project. Fortunately, the chance of the no-build alternative happening is almost zero, so let's move on to the next alternative:

The Township alternative:

(here on the MDOT website.) This would mean building the Plaza out in the Township, about 2.5 miles from the border. Some local residents still hold out hope that this alternative will be chosen. Let's look at the pros and cons, and then explain why this isn't happening, either:
  PRO:
  • Port Huron gets to retain the property taxes from a few blocks of aging, mostly Proposal-A capped neighborhood and a handful of businesses - about 1.5% of its tax base.
 CON:
  • All incoming border traffic is piped over 2 miles inland, without even a chance to exit in Port Huron
  • The expressway is walled by 20-ft high concrete barriers, marring the landscape and presenting incoming visitors a horrible first impression of the picturesque Blue Water area
  • There would be no access to the bridge from within Port Huron. Residents who wished to go to Canada would have to drive out to the Township to enter the concrete canyon that would take them to the Bridge
  • This is the most expensive option
 
Another no-brainer, eh? But don't worry - this won't happen, either, for a couple of good reasons. One is that Customs and Border Protection has already nixed this possibility. They're on record as stating that they can't secure the border that far inland, so they won't sign off on the Township alternative. The Government Services Administration in turn has said that there won't be funding for any project that C&BP won't sign off on, so there you are.

Furthermore, there is strong sentiment from the highest levels of state government that this important border crossing should have a suitable welcome center to greet travelers entering Michigan. The plans for the I-94/I-69 corridor expansion (here on the MDOT website) include a very pleasant welcome center - sitting right on the site of where a township plaza would go.

Though the Township plan incorporates the Welcome Center into the inspection plaza, do you think that MDOT really wants one of its welcome centers entangled with an international border inspection facility that would be under de facto Federal control? The Plaza alone is providing enough headaches.

So if the main Federal agency involved in the Plaza doesn't want it in the township, and the State agency would rather have its Welcome Center as a standalone facility, what do you think the fate of the Township alternative is going to be?

Now that we've dispensed with the two alternatives that are almost certainly not going to happen, let's take a quick look at the viable alternatives: what used to be called Alternatives 2 and 4, but have been renamed City East and City West.

City East:

(here on the MDOT website.) This alternative is called "east" because this is the plan that would merge Pine Grove and 10th Ave and run the combined street to the east of the new plaza, under the Bridge. This is not currently the preferred alternative, but it could still be chosen. Here are some pros and cons:
  PRO:
  • Bridge traffic is brought to ground level and stopped within the Port Huron city limits. For commercial traffic, this means trucks won't be backed up on the Bridge, idling with their engines running - they'll be stopped awaiting inspection. For passenger traffic, it means having adequate facilities to eliminate long backups and a better chance to entice them out of the Plaza and into the community
  • Because Pine Grove returns to its original route at Hancock, this option doesn't have a "dead area" along Pine Grove between Hancock and Garfield
  • The current route of Pine Grove is only minimally disrupted, and only for a short distance
  • Port Huron gets the benefit of having a major state/federal facility within its borders
 CON:
  • Port Huron loses the property taxes from a few blocks of aging, mostly Proposal-A capped neighborhood and a handful of businesses - about 1.5% of its tax base.
  • It's been argued that the merging of Pine Grove and 10th Ave would constrict and slow traffic along both those arteries. However, since they're only actually merged for a few hundred yards before 10th Ave splits off again, this doesn't seem a very big issue.
  • Some have argued that there would be a security risk having the combined Pine Grove/10th Ave run beneath the Bridge. We don't know how much of a real risk this would be
  • This alternative has the largest physical footprint
 

City West

(here on the MDOT website): This alternative is called "west" because this does not merge Pine Grove and 10th Ave, but instead sweeps Pine Grove west of the Plaza to join up with the off-ramps from the end of I-94/I-69. This is currently the preferred alternative, since it incorporates so many of the features that C&BP requested. It shares a lot of pros and cons with City East:
  PRO:
  • Bridge traffic is brought to ground level and stopped within the Port Huron city limits. For commercial traffic, this means trucks won't be backed up on the Bridge, idling with their engines running - they'll be stopped awaiting inspection. For passenger traffic, it means having adequate facilities to eliminate long backups and a better chance to entice them out of the Plaza and into the community.
  • Port Huron gets the benefit of having a major state/federal facility within its borders
  • Pine Grove and 10th Ave are not combined, addressing concerns about congestion
  • Swinging Pine Grove west of the Plaza would reduce the security risk of having heavy traffic under the bridge
  • The latest design of this alternative includes well-considered ramps for routing traffic off the Plaza into the community
 CON:
  • Port Huron loses the property taxes from a few blocks of aging, mostly Proposal-A capped neighborhood and a handful of businesses - about 1.5% of its tax base.
  • When originally proposed, this option left a large "dead zone" on Pine Grove between Hancock and Garfield. The latest resdesign greatly reduces this by quickly sweeping Pine Grove back east to rejoin its original route just north of the Plaza.
 
So there you have them: the four alternatives in order from least to most likely. Look over the plans, print them out and think about them in terms of impact on the greater community and the state. We'll keep you posted when the DEIS is published and the period of public comment is opened.