WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10) today requested that the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Victor M. Mendez, approve the transfer of land no longer needed for the Blue Water Bridge plaza expansion project back to the City of Port Huron for the sale price of one dollar. Land around the plaza was originally purchased by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) with FHWA funds, and MDOT is working with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to improve the security screening and traffic flow of the plaza, the second busiest commercial crossing on the Northern Tier of the nation.
In a letter to FHWA, Miller wrote that: “What was once a densely populated area is now a vacant field. Try to imagine 39 acres of open space in Washington, D.C., and that’s what you have in Port Huron, MI. In this age of austere budgets, it’s clear that this land will never be used for further plaza expansion.
“If you can understand all this, you must understand the severe economic impact this project has had on the City of Port Huron. Currently, the City is patiently waiting for a big construction project that may or may not go forward, all the while having had to give up 39 acres of land that is no longer on the City’s tax rolls, and is now completely vacant with no plans for use, either immediately or in the long term. This situation is untenable. I am requesting that this vacant property be transferred to the City of Port Huron, as soon as possible, for one dollar. While waiting to see if this land is needed sometime in the distant future might allow for a bureaucratic comfort level, it is merely rubbing salt into an open wound.”
Below is the text of the letter from Miller to FHWA:
January 25, 2011
Mr. Victor M. Mendez
Administrator, Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590
Dear Administrator Mendez:
I write today to discuss the ongoing Blue Water Bridge plaza expansion project in Port Huron, Michigan, in my congressional district. As you know, this project has been in the works for over ten years, and ground has yet to be broken. Allow me to provide you with a recap of the situation.
This project was started with an estimated cost of $500 million and 130 acre footprint. The massive size of this initial project outraged the community, as the amount of property that would have needed to be condemned and razed (and subsequently taken off the tax rolls) would have created a huge footprint that would divide the city. Because of that, various iterations of the project had reduced its footprint to 57 acres. All the while, the Port Huron community has been involved in this process, spending much time and paying much attention to the project. The City of Port Huron has truly been an active partner in this project and has worked in good faith with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to move the project along. Further, the City has waited patiently for construction to begin, which would bring much-needed jobs to the region. Now, through no fault of the City, CBP and MDOT have announced a much smaller project with a 16 acre footprint. CBP has made it clear that they cannot guaranty even this scaled-down project.
In 2005, I was able to get special appropriations to finance the beginning of the condemnation process to acquire the property needed for this project. MDOT has used that money, and has used it so effectively that what was once a densely populated area is now a vacant field. Try to imagine 39 acres of open space in Washington, D.C., and that’s what you have in Port Huron, MI. In this age of austere budgets, it’s clear that this land will never be used for further plaza expansion.
While MDOT has been the driver of this project, CBP is a necessary secondary player. The reason for this plaza project is to expedite traffic and commerce across the border and to correct poorly a designed traffic weave that stifles the efficient flow of traffic across the border. Thus, it is clear that both MDOT and CBP have missions that are vital to this project, and for any one party to hold up progress irreparably harms the City of Port Huron, especially when viewed through the lens of 12% unemployment in Michigan, and a much higher unemployment rate in Port Huron, which by some estimates surpasses 20%.
If you can understand all this, you must understand the severe economic impact this project has had on the City of Port Huron. Currently, the City is patiently waiting for a big construction project that may or may not go forward, all the while having had to give up 39 acres of land that is no longer on the City’s tax rolls, and is now completely vacant with no plans for use, either immediately or in the long term. This situation is untenable. I am requesting that this vacant property be transferred to the City of Port Huron, as soon as possible, for one dollar. While waiting to see if this land is needed sometime in the distant future might allow for a bureaucratic comfort level, it is merely rubbing salt into an open wound.
It is clear that this land will be not be needed to complete this project, and it must be transferred back to the City so they may begin the process of determining how to put that property back into productive use and mitigate the economic impact on the community. As a city on an international border crossing, the City of Port Huron could use this land for hotels, restaurants or any of the other sites commonly found at major international border crossings.
Community leaders, state and federal officials and the people of Port Huron have worked hard to make this project a reality. The community has been asked time and again to sacrifice in the effort to move this project forward. I believe it is simply unfair to ask further sacrifice from this community by keeping valuable property off the tax roles as they try and recover from the serious economic downturn. Conclusively, this situation could become a silver lining of sorts for the City of Port Huron, as it would have been impossible for them to ever complete a land assemblage project like this. In order to optimize the use of this land, I urge the conveyance thereof to the City of Port Huron.
Sincerely,
Candice S. Miller
Member of Congress
CC: Kirk Steudle, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation
Bruce Brown, City Manager, City of Port Huron
Senator Phil Pavlov, District 25, Michigan State Senate
Representative Jud Gilbert, District 81, Michigan House of Representatives
Bill Kauffman, Interim Administrator/Controller, St. Clair County
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