Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
Houghton’s pier project is moving along into the next phase of work soon. Pile driving work on the north side of the Lakeshore Center looks to finish up sometime during the next couple weeks. Construction should pick back up around March, dependent on the weather. The city has hit a snag when communicating with AT&T in regard to cables that are under water, and locating said cables. City Manager Eric Waara contacted the company back in the summer of 2021 to express the need to know where cables are located so that construction crews do not damage them while installing supports for the pier. Communication with AT&T will continue until the issue is resolved. The biggest issue may be a slight change in design to the pier if AT&T does not locate the cables, though the main function of the pier and design would not change drastically if they are not found.
Pat Coleman met with the Houghton planning commission last week to give a review of his findings from the parking deck sessions. The final report has not been delivered to Houghton; Coleman is putting together any final details, before the final report is submitted to the city. The parking deck sessions with the public had strong community engagement, and the city is looking forward to what Coleman has collected. Waara did say the council will need to take action soon following the report. So that deconstruction and planning can begin as soon as possible.
Houghton will also begin purchasing the equipment for two EV charging stations. The stations are the result of a grant from EGLE.
There will be a charging station placed on both ends of downtown. The city has also received MDOT construction plans for the new year. The largest of the projects will be on Townsend Drive. But there should be relative ease navigating traffic through town for the year.
