MDOT updates Port Huron council on Blue Water Bridge plaza expansion, timeline and local impacts

Representatives from the Michigan Department of Transportation told the Port Huron City Council that construction of the Blue Water Bridge Plaza expansion has begun on the southern, vehicle circulation elements and that procurement is underway for a second contract to expand the plaza to the south.

The state said construction work now under way includes a half‑mile freeway reconstruction to add capacity approaching the bridge, reconfiguration of the Pine Grove connector ramp, and a new noise wall along the business loop. The presentation described the project in numbered components; MDOT said component 1 is active and that some landscaping and final acceptance items were scheduled to remain until about 2028 to allow plantings to establish. The agency said it expects contract award for component 2 in the spring following procurement and heavier construction in 2027 with about two years of work projected for that phase.

The project team said the northern areas of the plaza — which include U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspection facilities and the duty‑free area — await separate federal appropriations and therefore have no fixed schedule. MDOT also showed designs for visual impacts along Scott Avenue and said the proposed noise wall and relocated tolling operations should largely screen new buildings from most…