By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
The start of construction on the last leg of the U.S. 31 freeway in Berrien County might not seem like a very big deal to many younger people, but it’s the fulfillment of a long awaited dream for many community leaders and older residents who have been waiting decades for the project to be finished.
As Michigan Department of Transportation official Nick Schirripa reported in August, the work to complete the last four miles of the U.S. 31 freeway to connect it to I-94 will be finished in 2022. Once done, motorists will be able to travel U.S. 31 from Mackinaw City in northern Michigan to Louisville, Kentucky, he said.
The freeway has been constructed in stages over the last three plus decades, with the last stretch ending at Napier Avenue near Benton Harbor done in 2003.
This year’s construction will concentrate on upgrades on I-94 and the I-94 Business Loop on Main Street in Benton Harbor as well as a roundabout at I-94 and Crystal Avenue and a new Britain Avenue bridge over U.S. 31.
Work scheduled for 2021 includes more work on I-94, constructing cul-de-sacs on Empire Avenue and on Highland Avenue in the Benton Harbor area and replacing the Territorial Road bridge over I-94. Bridge work will also be done on Benton Center Road.
2022 work will include more I-94 work, constructing the U.S. 31 segment and connection to the I-94 Business Loop interchange and more Benton Center Road bridge improvements. The 2022 work also includes the reconstruction of the I-196 interchange.
The $122.5 million project has been a long time coming. State and local leaders first talked about constructing the north-south highway as far back as the 1950s. The goal was to build a 30-mile freeway corridor to connect the I-80/90 Indiana Toll Road in northern Indiana north to I-94 and I-196 in northern Berrien County.
Work on constructing the new freeway from the Indiana-Michigan stateline northward began in the 1980s and continued in the next two decades with sections built north to Berrien Springs and finally to Napier Avenue.
The project stalled in the early 2000s for at least two reasons, first to find a route that would protect the Mitchell’s satyr butterfly whose habitat in the Blue Creek Fen along the original freeway route. The butterfly was designated a federal endangered species and the highway route had to be re-aligned to go around it.
Schirripa said money was the second reason. The project was already delayed by the butterfly habitat controversy and Gov. Jennifer Granholm instituted a policy of “Preserve First” to maintain existing roads rather than build new ones. That policy was exacerbated by the recession of 2007-08 which caused federal and state belt tightening.
Former 79th State Rep. Al Pscholka had a front row seat to all the U.S. 31 freeway discussions, both as an aide to U.S. Rep. Fred Upton and then as a state representative from 2010 to 2016. “I remember Harry Gast, Lad Stacey and Carl Gnodtke talking about it,” he said. “I got elected in 2010 and it took five years to get it back on the build list.”
“The legislation to get it back on track was one of the last things I did in the legislature,” he added. “I told my staff I wanted to get it done. We put together a deal with MDOT to do it in three stages: to improve I-94, to fix the connector to Benton Harbor and then do the 31-94 interchange.”
Pscholka is now the vice-president of public relations and government affairs at Kinexus and continues to see the project’s importance when it comes to economic development. “It provides an economic development corridor and makes it easier to move goods, services and people,” he said. “I can also see warehouses and industry going in close to the highway.”
“It’s an important tool for not only economic development but also public safety,” he added. “Sheriff Bailey says that having the freeway completed will shave 10 minutes off the drive from north to south county.”
He’s not the only one who sees the completion of the last freeway section as an important economic development tool.
Greater Niles Chamber President Jeff Rea said having the freeway corridor from the toll road to I-94 completed makes Berrien County much more attractive to companies looking for new locations and is even more important during the current pandemic. “It’s a pretty exciting thing to see this happening,” he said.
“I think our area is ripe for businesses to come in terms of logistics,” he said. “I can see the area being attractive for warehouse distribution centers to help address supply chain concerns. Time is money and the freeway getting completed gives the area east-west and north-south connectivity.”
“Getting the freeway done has been one of our top priorities at the chamber,” he added. “It’s been the missing link for us. The four miles not done from Napier to I-94 was just enough disruptions to keep companies from locating here. Now it will be easier to get to Chicago and Detroit as well as Grand Rapids and Indianapolis.”
People in the north end of the county have similar thoughts. Cornerstone Alliance Vice-President Christina Frank said transportation infrastructure is a critical element to economic development. “The movement of people and products in an efficient manner makes our region more economically competitive,” she said.
“This particular project will provide an easier access to major logistics hubs and metro areas … giving our community one more advantage when looking to recruit new business and retain existing businesses,” she added.
Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette said the completion of the U.S. 31 freeway benefits everyone from transportation providers to first responders by reducing the time involving in moving from one location to another. He expects it will also likely reduce receiving and shipping costs for local businesses.
“As for the economic development effects, we believe this will provide new opportunities for regional/national companies to locate warehousing and distribution centers near the interchanges of these routes,” he said. “This seems to be an obvious opportunity and one that we and our local economic development partners are actively pursuing.”
MDOT engineer Dharmesh Valsadia said the completion of the project will improve the efficiency of the north-south corridor, improve local access to I-94 in the county, relieve traffic congestion on Napier Avenue and provide for free flow connectivity from U.S. 31 to I-94 and also I-196.
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