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 residential sight lines.

Why it matters: council members and residents focused on the project’s effects on local traffic, air quality and neighborhood livability. The plaza handles both commercial truck throughput and passenger traffic to Canada; changes to tolling, inspections and lane geometry affect local circulation on Pine Grove, Tenth Avenue and adjacent streets.

MDOT staff said the ultimate goal is safer, more efficient handling of both local and international traffic rather than a singular capacity increase. "The main purpose and need of the project ... is safe, efficient handling of traffic as well as homeland security," the MDOT presenter said. The agency repeated that duty‑free operations will be moved inside the plaza so customers would no longer have to exit the freeway to access the store.

Council members pressed MDOT on congestion and on whether trucks could be allowed to queue ("stack") on local streets or inside the plaza. The city said it obtained a written assurance from MDOT that plaza operations will prevent stacking; City Manager James Freed told council that if trucks were stacked in a way that created environmental health risks, the city could take legal action under federal environmental laws. "If this does get built and there is stacking there under the environmental protection laws, the Clean Air Act, we will have to take legal action to make sure that that stacking doesn't occur," Freed said.

MDOT said it has installed continuous air‑quality monitoring in the area with a PurpleAir sensor in partnership with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and that the city already has baseline pre‑construction air quality measurements to compare with post‑construction data. MDOT also said a 24/7 operations center will monitor traffic flow and that toll operators can be instructed to hold entry onto the plaza to avoid backups.

Project costs and local investments: MDOT and Blue Water Bridge funds were described as the primary payers for the fully funded components; the presentation also noted a separate, roughly $20 million Blue Water Bridge commitment to reconfigure a skewed intersection on Scott Avenue and a roughly $35 million Blue Water Bridge investment to relocate and upgrade a DTE substation. MDOT staff said the intersection update and substation work were added in response to public feedback and infrastructure needs and were funded from Blue Water Bridge accounts.

Construction staging and local impacts: MDOT described temporary lane schemes and detours that will change as paving and ramp work proceed (the agency said crews hoped to switch the freeway to two lanes of traffic in mid‑to‑late August and to complete current ramp work in September, weather permitting). The Pine Grove corridor will be staged with one lane in each direction until crews move traffic to the opposite side of the road; MDOT staff asked residents to follow posted detours and consider alternate routes to reduce worker exposure and commuter frustration.

MDOT also discussed landscaping, pedestrian amenities and lighting: the Pine Grove corridor will include a multi‑use path, decorative lighting scaled for pedestrians and preserved mature trees where possible.

Quotes and local acknowledgments: MDOT singled out city staff and local officials for cooperation; the presenter thanked local police and staff for operations coordination and singled out a Port Huron officer, Steve Garrigan, for helping preserve a local ramp for commuters. "A very pleased local commuter ... thanked us all for the efforts we put in to reserve that local ramp off Pine Grove for local traffic," the MDOT presenter said. Mayor Ashford and other council members thanked the MDOT team for the update.

What comes next: MDOT said the public can review past presentations and project materials at www.michigan.gov/bwbplaza and contact the project team for one‑on‑one questions. Council members and staff said they will continue to monitor traffic, air quality and community impacts as construction progresses.