Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton County Vice Chairman Tom Tikkanen reports on the county’s task force for creating a second bridge across the Portage Canal.

HOUGHTON — The task force for creating a second bridge across the Portage Canal is asking the state to fund a feasibility study.

The group was formed after bridge construction last summer led to traffic backups that sometimes stretched back to Michigan Technological University.

“There is an opportunity for some preliminary data to be gathered by MTU students, and there’s a willingness perhaps to work with a couple of professors there on that effort, which is good,” Houghton County Vice Chairman Tom Tikkanen said during Tuesday’s county board meeting. “But we do need a feasibility study and we have made a request to Rep. (Greg) Markkanen and also Sen. (Ed) McBroom to fund that study.”

The group includes representatives from Michigan Department of Transportation, Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance, Houghton County and the cities of Houghton and Hancock.

Tikkanen was optimistic about the chance for funding due to the amount of infrastructure money coming to the state. Michigan is slated to receive $9 billion in federal money for roads and bridges, Tikkanen said. The state will receive $578 million in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for infrastructure needs, $377 million of which would go towards road and bridge construction.

“It’s going to be a long effort, but there’s a strong case to be made,” Tikkanen said.

Tikkanen also reported the transfer station would receive seven additional security cameras. The county also installed a new computer to streamline the financial reporting and amount of material being sent out to Greenland.

Tikkanen commended the county departments for their work with the county’s new auditing firm. A presentation is anticipated for the board’s March meeting.

Commissioner Roy Britz reported on a backlog of new patrol cars for the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office. Five patrol cars ordered recently are anticipated to be ready in six to nine months. The temporary shutdown of traffic at the Ambassador Bridge could create additional delays, he said. Two vehicles ordered by the department two years ago still haven’t come in, he said.

Sheriff Joshua Saaranen will work with Administrator Elizabeth Bjorn to look at ways of getting the vehicles more quickly, Britz said.

Most department vehicles have racked up 150,000 to 200,000 miles, Britz said.

“The sheriff and his staff are getting frustrated with the mile-high mileage, and I support them very much on that,” he said.

Commissioner Glenn Anderson reported there would be an event during Bridgefest weekend establishing the Portage Lake Lift Bridge as a national engineering landmark with representatives from MDOT and the American Society of Civil Engineering. They will also be replacing a plaque at the Red Ridge Dam, which had already been named a national engineering landmark.

Whitmer’s budget also increases a 6% increase in state shared revenue for counties, Anderson said.

Carol and Rick Freeman received a Heritage Award at the state convention of the Michigan Association of Fairs and Exhibitions representing 25 years of work at the Houghton County Fair, Anderson said. Carol Saari and Steve Palosaari received Hall of Fame awards, while two Houghton County children, Madison Thomas and Jewel Laux, received awards for their mentoring work.

Commissioner Gretchen Janssen said the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department received an additional $350,000 in funding for its laboratory. She had also attended focus groups for a housing study being done by the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region.