News File Photo A turn arrow sign indicates the end of 3rd Avenue near the Village Hills subdivision in June 2023. Plans are in the works for a project that could extend 3rd Avenue all the way to Tamarack Road.

ALPENA — The proposed project to extend 3rd Avenue in Alpena appears to be stuck in neutral and there is little action behind the scenes indicating if the project will move forward or not.

Alpena County Road Commission Managing Director Ryan Brege said the road commission is still awaiting word whether the road commission will receive a federal government grant to help pay for the project.

Last year, the road commission announced its intent to extend 3rd Avenue out to Tamarack Road and build a new roundabout near the intersection of Barrington Circle and 3rd Avenue. Originally, the estimated cost of the extension was $2 million but the addition of the roundabout, increased costs of materials, and a lack of financial commitment so far from the township, forced the road commission to seek alternate funding.

Supporters of the extension say it would make it easier for first responders to access Thunder Bay Junior High School and the surrounding neighborhoods during an emergency.

Many people, including many residents who live in the vicinity of the proposed project, have expressed concern over the proposal, as the road would have a 55-mile-per-hour speed limit, which they say creates a hazard for pedestrians, as well as increased noise, litter, and would impact their quality of life.

Alpena Township Supervisor Abbi Kaszubowski said the road commission hasn’t provided the township an update about the future of the project, but she suspects more information will be shared when the road commission learns the fate of the grant request.

“We haven’t heard anything and I have no idea what is going on,” she said. “The township is waiting to see if they get the grant and if it does, I assume they will probably move forward with the project.”

Under former supervisor Nathan Skibbe, who supported the project, the township pledged to allocate $1 million from its savings to help pay for the project. However, to date the Alpena Township Board of Trustees has not allocated any money and has shown no indication it plans to any time soon.

Brege said from the road commissioners standpoint nothing has changed and right now, it is in a “wait and see” mode. He said the decision on the grant could come this month and the funding may be a factor if the project moves forward or not.

“Nothing has changed,” he said. “But, as far as I know, our view on the matter hasn’t changed.”

The road commission still has to address some environmental issues raised by the state.

In December, Brege told The News that the road commission withdrew its application to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for a permit to construct the road in a wetland area.

He said the federal government got involved in the project and now other steps are needed for a permit to be granted before construction could begin.

“The Environmental Protection Agency is asking for a wetland delineation study done by someone through EGLE and that would probably come as early as June,” Brege said in January. “The study would show what is wetland and what isn’t and then red flag the wetland. Ultimately it would result in less impact to the wetland.”

The state could require the road commission to mitigate 1.95 acres of wetlands to satisfy the requirements of the permit. The road commission owns about 19 acres of property with wetland off of Airport Road it could try to use for the mitigation effort.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.