Traverse City commissioners got their first look this week at the design for a proposed $8.7 million pier on the Boardman River mouth in downtown Traverse City – and will decide Monday whether to continue work on the project.

Consulting firm SmithGroupJJR was hired last summer with a $232,000 Great Lakes Fishery Trust grant to create schematic, preliminary and final engineering and construction designs for a proposed pier extending 500 feet into West Grand Traverse Bay. Commissioners must approve each phase of design work before progressing to the next. An early draft of the schematic design – created using resident input from multiple public workshops last fall – was released to commissioners Tuesday, with a final version to follow Monday.

The design calls for five phases of improvements that could be implemented over several years. Improvements surrounding the pier are designed to help connect the structure to the rest of downtown and offer increased public access to the site, according to City Planning and Engineering Assistant Missy Luick. Phases include:

1) Public pier, $5,360,000: Including pier, connection to Grandview Parkway, lower plaza, fish habitat structures, canopy structures, stormwater management, site amenities (lighting/landscaping/furnishings/signage)
2) Beach improvements, $660,000: Including public restrooms, fish cleaning station, canopy structure, sanitary sewer service, pump station, site amenities
3) Boardman River + Downtown, $1,150,000: Including boardwalk under Murchie Bridge, pedestrian bridge, Front Street plaza, connection to parking, bank stabilization, site amenities
4) East Connections, $630,000: Including improved TART connection, coastal wetland enhancement, boardwalk, connection to Grandview Parkway, site amenities
5) Clinch Marina Connection, $910,000: Including 12’ wide trail, three plazas/beach connections, stormwater management, site amenities

At $8.7 million, total cost estimates for the project are roughly 10 percent higher than an initially anticipated price tag of $8 million, according to SmithGroupJJR, who cited shallow water at the site and limited construction access for the rise in projections. 

SmithGroupJJR Senior Vice President Patrick Doher says the cost increases are “reasonable” given the overall scope of the project, noting they don’t affect the firm’s assessment of the project's feasibility. Dover adds that “the (next phase of) preliminary engineering…will allow a more refined and accurate cost to be developed.” City Manager Jered Ottenwess also says he doesn’t see anything in the design or cost estimates likely to prevent commissioners from proceeding with the remaining design phases, which are already paid for by the grant.

“It’s a large-dollar project, so whether it’s $8 million or $8.7 million, it’s still feasible and doable,” says Ottenwess.

The grant calls for final engineering and construction designs to be provided by SmithGroupJJR by June 1. If commissioners approve design work and decide to proceed, Luick says the city planning department would then commence fundraising for the project, which could potentially qualify for state and federal grants, coastal zone funding and Brown Bridge Trust Fund (BBTF) dollars.