After more than three years of legal delays, work will finally begin this spring on the long-planned construction of an experimental fish passage system to replace the Union Street Dam. New contracts are being finalized now to clear the way for construction to start on FishPass in April or May – a project that will take until 2026 to complete and will also include a new research facility and improvements to the surrounding parkland.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contractor Spence Brothers Construction are in the final stages of approving a new construction contract for FishPass, according to Great Lakes Fishery Commission Executive Secretary Dr. Marc Gaden. Spence Brothers, a Traverse City firm, was originally hired in 2020 for $19.3 million to lead construction on FishPass. Just prior to groundbreaking, city resident Rick Buckhalter sued to block the project, arguing that the Union Street Dam site was considered city parkland and could not be “disposed” of without a vote of residents under the city charter. 

While Judge Thomas Power originally sided with Buckhalter in Thirteenth Circuit Court, preventing construction from proceeding, the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in 2022. Last August, the Michigan Supreme Court declined to take up the case, leaving the Michigan Court of Appeals ruling in place. With appeal options exhausted, the injunction prohibiting work was finally lifted, allowing the project to move forward.

During the last several years of legal wrangling, inflation and other factors have driven up construction costs. That’s required renegotiations between the Army Corps and Spence Brothers, according to Gaden, as well as coordinating “a lot of moving parts” with subcontractors to line up work this spring. The final price tag could rise by several million dollars, potentially putting construction in the $20-$25 million range. Still, Gaden says the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is “optimistic” that between initial contingencies built into the budget and leaning on additional grant and other funding sources, “costs are going to be manageable” and not delay the project.

“The additional costs are not setting up any alarm bells in terms of being so high that it would require rebidding the project,” Gaden says. “FishPass is moving forward, and we’re as enthused as we’ve ever been. Right now, we have enough in hand to move forward. The support is very strong, and the science and work we're doing is so badly needed, that I think we'll get our supporters rallying around to make up any shortfall we have.” Funding for the project is coming from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Dam Management Grant, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, City of Traverse City, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, among other partners. Numerous local, tribal, state, and federal agencies as well as non-governmental organizations are participants in the project.

FishPass is intended to “replace the deteriorating Union Street Dam with a new, complete barrier to all fish that will have the ability to sort and selectively pass desirable fishes while blocking harmful invaders like sea lamprey,” according to the project website. The project will allow fish biologists from around the world to evaluate different fish-sorting technologies to combat invasive freshwater species, such as the sea lamprey, from moving upstream to spawn. It’ll also allow desired species like sturgeon into the Boardman-Ottaway River. A research station and multiple park improvements are planned for the surrounding property, including kayak landings both up and downstream of the new dam and a connecting rail between them, ADA-compliant boat landings, a step-stone access down to the river, new boardwalk, benches, trash bins, landscaping, and bike racks.

Once construction contracts are finalized – which could happen this month – work will likely begin in April or May. From there, construction is anticipated to take two-and-a-half years to complete, according to Dr. Daniel Zielinski, principal engineer and scientist with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The first thing the public will see is fencing go up around the project site, followed by the removal of select trees and brush. Zielinski says in-stream work will take place in two major phases, with a sheet-pile cofferdam installed on the south side of the river where the auxiliary spillway is now. Water will continue to pass through the main spillway while contractors build a new arc-labyrinth weir. Crews from there will be able to isolate half the river and remove existing infrastructure, with the river eventually redirected to pass through the new structure. A fish-passing channel and nature-like bypass channel will also be constructed.

The Union Street Dam property will be blocked off during construction, as will parking Lot J (the dam parking lot on the south side of the river downhill from Hagerty). With the river also planned to be closed off at the site, Boardman-Ottaway users – including groups like the Kayak, Bike & Brew tours – will have to get out at American Legion Park. The city will use additional off-site locations for staging equipment for FishPass construction, including on Woodmere Avenue and Airport Access Road.

At the same time, the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is about to begin a public visioning process for the new Rotary Square, located across the alley at the corner of State and Union streets. DDA Interim CEO Harry Burkholder says four firms responded to a request-for-proposals (RFP) by last week’s deadline to lead the public input process to identify a design and desired amenities for the park, a process planned to kick off this spring. With the close proximity between Rotary Square and FishPass, Burkholder sees “an opportunity for great collaboration between the two projects” – a relationship that will be explored in the design process to ideally create a flow between the two adjoining properties.

Multiple FishPass partners expressed frustration about what they described as the “unnecessary” delays and additional costs incurred due to years of legal proceedings surrounding FishPass. But all expressed a desire to focus on the positive and move forward with what they consider to be a once-in-a-generation project – coinciding with similar-scale projects this year like the reconstruction of Grandview Parkway/East Front Street and a new Traverse City Senior Center – that will significantly reshape downtown Traverse City.

“It’s taken two or three years longer to achieve the objectives we wanted to do on the river,” says Gaden. “But sometimes things are worth the wait, and we want to do it right. The delays haven’t dampened our enthusiasm for not only restoring the Boardman-Ottaway, but developing technology that can be applied throughout the Great Lakes basin and the world.”