By Jim Bloch
It may soon be easier and more aesthetically pleasing to walk from the Black River on the west side of the campus of St. Clair County Community College all the way to the east side of McMorran Auditorium in downtown Port Huron and onward to the St. Clair River.
The city council passed a resolution at its regular meeting March 23 in support of a pedestrian bridge and mobility project led by SC4. The goal of the project is “create a
safer, more accessible, and connected campus that integrates seamlessly with downtown … inviting residents and visitors to experience our unique waterfront setting” and contributing to “Port Huron’s economic resurgence by increasing foot traffic to downtown and bolstering small businesses.”
According to an artist’s rendition of the project, the covered bridge will rise from ground level around the southwest corner of the College Center building, run due east on the south side of the Fine Arts Building, continue over Erie Street and behind the Fieldhouse and McMorran Auditorium, leading pedestrians toward Huron Avenue, the city’s main north-south artery.
Erie is a three-lane north-south road; the north and south lanes are separated by a lefthand turn lane; the three lanes are bounded by a bike lane on each side. It artificially divides the campus from downtown.
“For more than a century, the city and college have worked together to make our community and region a better place,” the resolution said. “SC4 has long preserved Port Huron’s history and architectural fabric—including the Main Building (1908), North Building (1925), Science Building (1968), Sperry’s (1923), Bank Building (1927), and Fieldhouse (1960). Integrating a thoughtfully designed pedestrian bridge within this context honors that heritage, while modernizing campus city circulation for today’s needs.”
The resolution praised the collaboration of the city and college in planning and paying for the walking bridge. It hailed the project’s “effective design, and stewardship of public assets in concert with targeted street closures and circulation improvements.”
The pedestrian bridge is a key component of the college’s new master plan, which includes a planetarium and a riverside convertible amphitheater.
In January, the council voted to close a section of Bard Street, east of Huron.
“We want to find a more pedestrian and safe way to traverse downtown,” said City Manager James Freed at the time. “Our vison is that from one river to the other river, we create a nonmotorized, beautiful parkway/pathway, connecting the St. Clair River through downtown, through SC4, to the Black River. (Bard Street) will be the first step. This will be removing a piece of roadway that is currently near the (Marian) Manor, which they own.”
The plan is ultimately to remove the pavement on Bard Street from Merchant Street, just off the St. Clar River, all the way west to Erie Street at the edge of the SC4 campus and make it a nonmotorized, pedestrian corridor.
The council said the project will “optimize the flow of cars, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians—encouraging walkability, daily physical activity, and overall health and wellness.”
No cost estimate or timetable for the construction was included in the resolution.
City Clerk Cyndee Jonseck will forward a copy to resolution to U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin in hopes of landing an infrastructure accessibility improvement grant for the project.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
