Detroit Bridge Company Revives Plans For Harsens Island Crossing

HARSENS ISLAND (WWJ/AP) - Plans to build a bridge to Harsens Island in St. Clair County have been revived -- again -- by the Detroit International Bridge Company.

A permit application to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality show the company wants to build a 1,750-foot drawbridge across the north channel of the St. Clair River.

The proposed two-lane bridge would stretch between the Riverview Campground Marina on the mainland and just west of the Sunset Harbor Marina on Harsens Island. According to reports, the bridge company already owns the necessary land on the mainland and the island.

The Department of Environmental Quality denied a similar proposal from the bridge company in 2007. Plans were briefly revived again in 2012, but went nowhere.

Currently, the only ways to access the island are via boat or ferry.

A public comment period on the proposal ends Thursday, but Clay Township Supervisor Artie Bryson is seeking an extension. A public hearing is tentatively set for March 9.

Harsens Island is located in St. Clair County's Clay Township, about 30 miles east-northeast of Detroit. The island has about 1,200 year-round residents and a summer population that swells to about 5,000.

The International Bridge Company, which is owned by Manuel "Matty" Moroun, operates the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor.

TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.