New bridge will span spillway

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — A new way to cross the Clinton River Spillway will soon arrive.

Harrison Township is building a new pedestrian bridge to connect the spillway along Jefferson Avenue, budgeting $3.45 million for the bridge and associated walkways. The pedestrian bridge will supplement the existing bridge at the mouth of the spillway, which is designed for automobiles and challenging for nonmotorized traffic to safely cross. Vehicles travel along at a posted speed of 40 mph while pedestrians, lacking any existing path, have to brave thin, eroding curbs or a tight, unprotected and drain-pocked edge to cross the spillway.

“The need is there,” said Ken Verkest, Harrison Township supervisor. “The existing road bridge is not scheduled to be replaced for 10 years, maybe more, and so waiting for that just didn’t seem like it was an option.”

The new bridge will be located upstream from the current one. It will consist of a single unsupported span with plans for fishing piers on the ends. The bridge will align with the existing sidewalks along Jefferson with renderings showing connections at Waterway Drive to the south and Ballard Street to the north.

The $3.45 million project’s funding comes from several sources. Harrison Township’s contribution to the project is $650,000 while the federal Transportation Alternatives Program is providing about $1.6 million. The Macomb County Department of Roads is providing $300,000 and the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation is providing just over $1 million.

The township worked with community leaders and organizations, particularly the county government, to secure funding for the project. Legal requirements stipulating that a percentage of county road funding be used on non-automobile projects made the contribution from the Department of Roads possible. The Ralph C. Wilson Foundation’s contribution came after past attempts to get funds for a bridge as part of the Great Lakes Way Trail. The trail, which is a project led by the Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan, aims to connect Lake Huron with Lake Erie.

“They were aware of it, so when the request came it wasn’t as if it was foreign to them,” Verkest said. “They were the providers of $33,000 of a total of $41,000 to do the preliminary engineering.”

The foundation’s $1 million contribution, however, came to the township via an indirect path.

“Macomb County Planning and Economic Development had approached us about helping to receive funding from the Wilson Foundation specifically for this project,” said Phil Gilchrist, the executive director of Advancing Macomb. “The county government themselves don’t have a mechanism for accepting funding from a foundation, and additionally I believe the Wilson Foundation does not grant to governments. Advancing Macomb was able to step up and be able to ensure that there was a way for these funds to help benefit this particular project.”

With preliminary designs and a budget set by the Harrison Township Board of Trustees back in February, the timeline for the bridge is coming into place.

“We just reviewed the draft of the bid spec,” Verkest said. “We anticipate that within the month we’ll be soliciting bids, and I believe we are looking at sometime in April for a bid selection. Engineering should begin late spring and some of the path work that’s a part of the project may be completed in 2024. The bridge construction is expected for 2025.”

The spillway bridge is only one of the road projects planned for Harrison Township over the coming years. Congressman John James, R-Shelby Township, submitted a federal funding request for a path along South River Road between Bridgeview Street and Lanse Creuse Street, while bridge construction on projects on North and South River roads are expected to begin in the next two years. North River Road will also be reconstructed with federal funding between Interstate 94 and Bridgeview Street, as will Jefferson Avenue between South River Road and Metro Parkway. Both are scheduled to take place in the next two to three years.