City to weigh beach traffic as Gratiot Ave. construction wears on

As the reconstruction of Gratiot Avenue on Port Huron’s north side wears on, city officials said they’ll continue re-evaluating the impact of closures on traffic.

Especially around the city’s popular waterfront parks as the summer beach season ramps up.

The multi-million-dollar reconstruction of the roadway from Elmwood Street to Holland Avenue, which also entails water and sewer main work, is well underway with that length of Gratiot largely closed to through traffic.

While Lighthouse Park, one of two major beaches that attract visitors from out of town each season, can still be accessed through the neighborhood to the site along Omar Street, Lakeside Park is on Gratiot just north of Holland and can only be accessed by the latter.

Public Works Director Eric Witter said it was too soon to know what putting Lakeside traffic first on Holland will mean even ahead of Memorial Day weekend — the usual kickoff to the summer season.

“We have to keep it closed for construction activities, but until we get our first warm busy event, that’s when we’re going to regroup and, if there were issues, try to figure out a potential solution,” he said on Thursday. “Especially the Lakeside Park area. We did put the traffic signal in flash mode in all directions, and hopefully, that helps traffic move through more quickly, but we really need to have a big busy weekend to see what works and what doesn’t.”

Gratiot remains open north of Holland where vehicles are traditionally funneled into Lakeside’s parking lot. The traffic signal at the Holland and Gratiot intersection is now blinking red to indicate a stop for vehicles southbound on Gratiot and in both directions on Holland.

Still, Councilwoman Anita Ashford, who lives on Holland, asked about the difference in traffic flow around Lakeside during last Monday’s City Council meeting.

And Mayor Pauline Repp asked about adding a three-way sign at the intersection in case it was difficult for newcomers to navigate the area.

“I wanted blinking yellow and red, but traffic experts said that could cause confusion because people didn’t know who had the blinking yellow. To be candid, I don’t know what’s going to happen out there this summer,” City Manager James Freed said Monday. “Our engineering team’s looking at it, as is our traffic safety committee. It could be fine, or it could just be a nightmare.”

“We’re also concerned about stacking at the beach from around Holland into the beach. Because most people don’t know to enter in the south,” he added. “We’re monitoring it because I think we’ll have to deviate when the situation changes.”

If things get crowded, Witter later said they may look at the timing of the Holland-Gratiot signal.

As of the end of the last week, the DPW director said Gratiot work was still on track to wrap up toward the end of the year.

Crews have come in to mill the length of Gratiot in the first stretch between Elmwood to Garfield streets, he said, before working north.

The project itself was financed via $4.2 million in contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation with over $1.6 million from the city’s street fund and $2.5 million in federal aid administered by the state agency.

The additional infrastructure costs for the city outside the roadwork — namely, the water main replacement and storm sewer work — brought the total to $6.7 million.

It’ll also address concrete sidewalks, curb and gutters, sidewalk ramps, signage, and pavement markings.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.