What are the options to redesign Huron Avenue downtown?

PORT HURON — City officials are expected to pick a preferred redesign for Huron Avenue by the end of the summer, coinciding with the state’s reconstruction of the downtown roadway in two years .

A roundtable working group formed earlier this year has met twice to consider five options identified by the Michigan Department of Transportation. Those options vary in how they’d arrange travel lanes, parking, and more as part of the project on that section of Main Street from the Black River to Glenwood Avenue.

And so far, according to the city, stakeholders may be leaning toward one alternative that incorporates a road diet redesign and new buffered bike lanes while maintaining parallel parking.

“We’re removing or replacing the pavement, the curb and gutter, the traffic signals, the storm sewer, the streetlights, landscaping, everything,” Thomas Anderson, the project’s manager for MDOT, told roughly 40 attendees at a meeting with the downtown business community on Wednesday. “We’re also upgrading the sidewalk areas to be ADA compliant.”

While plans call for addressing underground infrastructure along Main Street, also including water main work amid MDOT’s reconstruction, officials said there was a short variety of details they are still working out.

On Wednesday, Anderson broke some of those down, as well as the outcome to a community survey on project details completed this spring.

Huron Ave Working Group Roundtable Presentation by Jackie Smith on Scribd

However, because many of those potential layouts include a road diet — a reduction in travel lanes aimed at safely slowing the flow of traffic — he said the project would require a resolution of support from City Council.

Port Huron City Manager James Freed said he expected to present council with a recommendation by sometime in August.

The administrator called the Huron Avenue work “one of the largest projects in the downtown since the ‘90s.” And while council did have final say, he said the biggest contributor to their recommendation was coming from the roundtable.

“I believe this is a decision that is much too large for the city manager to arbitrarily make the recommendation. I think it’s a decision that needs to have real community input and to be a community-based decision.,” Freed said. “… Not everyone’s going to be happy. We’re all different stakeholders with different interests, and so, there’s a cause and consequences for every decision and design change that’s made.

“Whether you lose some parking, gain some parking, add bike lanes, don’t have bike lanes, stacking when the bridge goes up. All those things have to be taken into consideration, but holistically, what is the best option for the city? I have said I will stand by the decision of the (round)table.”

More infromation was expected to be posted on the Huron Avenue project at PortHuron.org/opengovernment. Those with comments could contact the city via CommunityComments@PortHuron.org.

What are the layout options?

Anderson said they expect to go for contractor bids in the fall of next year with construction kicking off in 2026 — with a break mid-summer for Boat Week and other July events — and continuing into spring 2027.

Of the 776 responses from an online survey launched by MDOT earlier this year, he said many favored a road diet — going from two travel lanes in each direction to one with a center turn lane. Of those, 273 wanted bike lanes, 123 wanted a bigger sidewalk, and 103 wanted a landscaped median.

Although “bike lanes was a clear favorite," other options like the median, Anderson said, weren’t possible.

The first option overall included a reconstruction that didn’t change Huron Avenue’s current lane configuration. However, it did entail a minor reduction in parking spots — credited to bringing up those spaces to current standards — and adding center turn lanes at McMorran Boulevard.

Meanwhile, the first and second alternatives included a road diet, as well as back-in angled parking — with one including bike lanes and the other not.

The third and fourth alternatives also included the road diet and keeping parallel spaces. But the fourth alternative — and the one largely endorsed by the city’s roundtable — put the path for bicyclists in its one buffered lane, separated by a curb, on one side of the roadway.

Huron Ave ReCon Options by Jackie Smith on Scribd

There were multiple questions from business community members about the impact of the buffered lanes and bike lanes in general, though some said they were in support of the idea, particularly to keep bikes off sidewalks used more heavily by pedestrians.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Karen Palka, founder of A Beautiful Me, which operates the Closet downtown, recalled near-misses in encounters with bikes. She supported the fourth alternative.

“I feel like if you give them a designated lane, (it helps),” she said. “And I’m a bike-rider and walker probably more than driving a car. But to be able to move about. I also travel a lot and see what’s in other communities, and I just think I’m sold. I would support their recommendation.”

What are the concerns?

In the past, officials and some residents have cited concerns about traffic backups with a road diet, especially when the Military Street Bridge lifts during the summer.

Some meeting attendees on Wednesday pointed to their hope to divert semi-truck traffic — something feared that may exacerbate the issue.

However, officials said with a road diet, thru traffic may naturally divert around downtown and down 10th Street. Freed said he believed many semis already drove around downtown.

“When there are bridge openings in the summer ... especially on a nice July weekend, currently, the backup’s about five minutes,” Anderson said. “It backs up from the Black River going north to about Grand River. No surprise. Going down to one lane, the traffic backup’s going to about double.”

Some had questions about traffic speeds, making crosswalks safer, and maintaining access to business fronts during construction.

Others said they were concerned about the impact on traffic in the approaches to downtown.

Eventually, Freed said whatever layout moves forward would later be implemented to Military Street downtown likely to Griswold Street. With the approach to Huron Avenue on both ends, Anderson said they were still working out minor reconfiguration details for traffic approaching Main Street between the bridge and Glenwood.

Among the biggest concerns was related to downtown parking.

Nearly every option included a reduction in the number of spaces on Main Street.

Barbara Peyton, of the Root Juicery on Huron, said she thought there was plenty of parking in general downtown but that she “would rather see people that have disabilities or can’t walk that far” be better accommodated in the reconstruction plans.

“It’s just people want a spot right in front of the business,” she said. “So, for instance, my brother owns the Vintage Tavern, and since the Wrigley has opened and other businesses in the area, his elder patrons, they could not find anywhere to park, so they would not come in on the weekends anymore.”

Officials said they could accommodate ADA-complaint spaces where the city believed they were needed with the understanding that, for ramp purposes, they often eliminate another parking spot.

Contact reporter Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: What are the options to redesign Huron Avenue downtown?