The last of the fall color tourists– and all of the Harbor Springs area locals– will be glad to see M-119 once again open to traffic coming into downtown Harbor Springs. The section of road leading into downtown has been closed since early September, part of the second phase of floodplain mitigation work being completed in the City of Harbor Springs.
A box culvert was placed below M-119 as part of the plan to divert any potential“100 year flood” waters (a catastrophic flooding event that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year, and has happened in Harbor Springs twice in the last century) to run from the Shay Drain down the side of Main Street hill, to Zoll Street and down into the harbor of Little Traverse Bay.
“M-119 is now open and will remain open as the rest of the work is completed,” said city manager Victor Sinadinoski. “Eventually in the next few weeks, we will have workers back on the road to paint the lines, both on M-119 and Zoll Street, but that won’t cause any major shutdowns and will only last a few hours.
The city opted to fund this $1 million-plus project in order to protect both city and private properties, as well as infrastructure, should a historic flood occur. The floodplain work will also likely result in private properties being kept off the new version of FEMA’s flood map, which will save property owners from having to carry flood insurance/ be subject to flood-related building regulations.
“We’re hoping to hear by mid-November that the map has been reviewed and that all properties have been removed from the floodplain,” Sinadinoski said.
The FEMA floodplain map had not been revised in 37 years, and when new GIS technology was used, it included a large swath of the city that was previously not considered part of the floodplain.
Following months of discussion and work with the Michigan Department of Transportation, the city’s engineering firm, Benchmark, finalized a design that included the 8×10-foot culvert box under M-119, a paved open spillway with“low walls” directing flood water west to Zoll Street, and the lowering of Zoll Street to carry the water to the waterfront (Zoll now would essentially act as a giant pipe to move the water to the beach and into the harbor). The Zoll Street portion was phase one of the project, and was completed during the summer of 2019.
Work continues on the open spillway, but this will not impact traffic.
Once completed, any major flooding would presumably be diverted from the Shay Drain to Lake Michigan, without damaging infrastructure or flooding structures downtown.
“Obviously, we want to thank Elmers for making sure process went smoothly,” Sinadinoski said of the M-119 work. “We are grateful for the patience and support of our community during the time M-119 was closed, especially our downtown businesses and the people who live on Lake Street. We’re all very happy the road is open and the project is almost finished. Now we’re looking forward to hopefully getting the nod that we are 100-percent out of the floodplain and good to go.”