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December 21, 2002County opts for $6.4M bridge- Hartman-Hammond 'low-bridge' calls for three shorter spans 15 feet above riverbedBy BILL O'BRIENRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Opting for the pricier of two "low-bridge" models, Grand Traverse County road officials have approved a $6.4 million design plan for a new east-west crossing over the Boardman River Valley south of Traverse City. The project, debated for years, also would create a bypass route between M-37 and U.S. 31 in East Bay Township via Hartman, Hammond and Three Mile roads. The estimated cost of the road and bridge project is $30 million. The $6.4 million plan calls for three shorter bridge spans raning from 100 to 150 feet at 15 feet above the riverbed. A $4.4 million plan, which was also under consideration, included a 150-foot span about 15 feet above the river. Both of the low-bridge options required filling almost 4 acres of wetlands during construction, but county officials said the short-span option will create more space under the roadway for wildlife corridors and recreational trails. "We're spending an extra 2 million to 3 million dollars on that east-west span to deal with some of those environmental issues," said Mike Dillenbeck, manager of the Grand Traverse County Road Commission. Other design plans considered by the road commission included two higher spans of up to 30 feet over the riverbed with an estimated price tag of $15 million to $17 million. The county would've had to come up with $8 million to $10 million more than what is now budgeted. "It was a matter of cost," Dillenbeck said of the county's limited construction options. "But it was also a matter of getting water off a high bridge, which creates significantly higher maintenance costs over the life of the project." The next step in the bridge project will be developing a final design plan for bridge construction so the county can begin seeking construction permits for the project. Those plans have to be approved by the state Department of Environmental Quality. That process promises to be the next legal battleground for the bridge proposal. A coalition of five local, state and national environmental organizations have opposed the project in favor of upgrading existing roads south of the city. "We're going to challenge these permits when they attempt to get them," said Kelly Thayer, a transportation specialist with the Benzonia-based Michigan Land Use Institute, one of the organizations opposing the bridge project. "We think we've got a good shot at showing there are alternatives to this project ... that's what the law is all about." County officials said the DEQ will conduct a public hearing on the construction permit sometime in early spring, although they are confident the road and bridge project will continue to receive the necessary approvals. "We'll keep answering the questions that we've been answering all along," Dillenbeck said. Opponents already have filed a lawsuit to block the bridge construction, but it was dismissed by Circuit Judge Thomas Power in the fall as premature. Thayer said the group will file the suit if it fails to derail the project through the DEQ's permitting process. "We are doing everything we can to stop this bridge," Thayer said. |
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