Mackinac Trail Reconstruction Moving Forward Again
Road Work To Begin at North End of Project
By Karen Gould

Plans to reconstruct Mackinac Trail from the county line south are moving forward, four years after they were proposed and following one diversion that sent the work to the southern end of the road.

The St. Ignace Township Board, at its Thursday, December 14, meeting, directed Township Clerk Donna Harju to send a letter of support for the project to the M a c k i n a c County Road Commission. Although some township residents would have preferred the project be taken up at the south end of Mackinac Trail, township board members reached a consensus that the risks of losing the latest round of federal funds for the project would be too great if they asked the road commission to reconsider its plans and begin construction where it ended in 2004, when funds ran out.

The Road Commission, which addressed the issue five days later at its Tuesday, December 19, made note of the township’s letter and submitted the reconstruction plans to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), which will seek bids in March for the Mackinac Trail project.

“This commission has and still does take the township’s opinion in high regard,” said Road Commission Chairman Lester Livermore. “It’s essential that we work with them and if the township feels we should start at the north end, we should start at the north end.”

Not all residents who attended the township meeting Thursday favored the township board’s move.

Originally slated to begin in 2003 at the county line, a switch in plans called for the road work to begin at the M- 123 interchange and move north. The change caused a delay and work began in 2004. Funding of approximately $1.7 million covered road reconstruction work from M-123 to 800 feet north of the Carp River Campground Road.

That left less than 10 miles of Mackinac Trail in Mackinac County unfinished.

Now, new funding of $3.2 million coming from the Federal Forest Highway Funds is earmarked for the project and sent to MDOT. The money is expected to cover approximately five to six miles of reconstruction work and run from the county line to approximately the snowmobile trail. The County Road Commission had to compete with projects all across the country to get the federal dollars for the project.

This would leave approximately a four-mile middle section of the road unfinished.

The township board weighed the logic of instead continuing the reconstruction work from where it left off at the south end near the Carp River Campground Road, where the project would head north until the new funds run out. This would leave the unfinished section approximately four miles from the county line and create no mid-section gap.

Township resident Joan Theut, who attended Thursday’s meeting, supported this option. She said most of her trips are on Mackinac Trail to St. Ignace and not to Sault Ste. Marie. She said the road was “heavily traveled” and questioned why the entire road was not completed.

“Why can’t they [road commission] borrow the money – other counties do that – and make payments on it?” she asked the township board.

Board members expressed their concern that with federal funding promised for the project to begin at the north end, it may be lost if they changed the direction of the project and headed north from the campground road.

Township Supervisor Dale Nelson said he recently had driven the road.

“I felt portions of the north end were the worst parts, but then the road was bad all the way,” he said. “Our hopes and dreams were that the whole second half would be completed this time.”

Trustee Steven Campbell agreed that the north end was the worst section of the road.

“We owe it to those people who’ve been driving this to get it done,” he said. “We’d like to do the whole thing, but we can’t.”

Mackinac Trail resident David Aho read a letter he had written to the board regarding the project, arguing that the “northern-most three miles is the worst section of that road.”

His letter continued, “The edges of the road are completely degraded. There are no guardrails next to ravines etc., it creates a very dangerous and scary situation for all those who travel the road.”

He added, “It’s bad, it’s dangerous, and we’ve got to fix it.”

Mr. Aho said he has been lobbying U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Senator Carl Levin, and State Representative Gary McDowell to help the county get the funding for Mackinac Trail. He argued that he has been told federal funds for road work are disappearing.

“If we leave a section undone at the north end, it will never be seen as a priority and it will always be left undone,” he said.

Craig Kelso, manager and engineer at the road commission, later told The St. Ignace News that it was his personal opinion the location of the unfinished gap, near the M-134 intersection, an interchange coming directly off I-75, could bolster the chances of getting funds in the future to finish it.

In September, in preparation for paving, the township board approved culvert replacement and drainage improvement on the north section of Mackinac Trail. The Mackinac County Road Commission and the township each contributed $12,650 for the work and the remaining $75,200 came from federal funds.

Mrs. Theut and Mr. Aho also attended the Tuesday, December 19, Road Commission meeting, again presenting their side of the matter.

Following the road commission’s approval to begin at the north end of Mackinac Trail, Mr. Kelso asked the board also to approve his request that in order for the new construction to match the Chippewa County road work, he would need to taper the new road down to meet the older road in Chippewa County. This would require crews to work north of the line by approximately 100 feet. The board approved Mr. Kelso’s request, noting he was not to exceed 100 feet.

Mr. Kelso later told The St. Ignace News that MDOT is expected to put the project out for bids in March and work would begin depending on the schedule of the contractor awarded the job. The completion date is set for November 15.

The Road Commission next meets Tuesday, January 9, at 1:30 p.m. at the Road Commission building on North State Street.

The St. Ignace Township board next meets Thursday, January 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Township Hall on Gorman Road.