Stadium bridges project likely to receive state grant funding, MDOT official tells Ann Arbor leaders

Today, during a press conference in the shadow of the 93-year-old span over South State Street, MDOT Deputy Director Jackie Shinn addressed a crowd of about two dozen dignitaries who gathered to celebrate the grant award.

In addition to the $14 million TIGER II grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the city is seeking $4.5 million in funding from the state to put toward the $23 million bridge reconstruction project. That includes $1.5 million through a federal enhancement program administered by the state and another $3 million in MDOT local bridge funds.

"Because of the timing, I can't quite announce, but the state of Michigan is going to be assisting in two areas with work on this bridge," Shinn said. "One is the local bridge program, which they'll have an application in — or do have — for additional funds to round this out. The other is what is called the enhancement program, and that will help fund portions of the bridge that are dedicated to the pedestrians who use this bridge. So hopefully here in early November, you'll also be hearing the state of Michigan marching up and matching some of these federal dollars."

U.S. Congressman John Dingell, left, is joined at the podium by Mayor John Hieftje. Dingell said only two projects in Michigan received TIGER II grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

U.S. Department of Transportation officials said today they received nearly 1,000 grant applications for more than $19 billion worth of construction projects across the country — more than 30 times the $600 million pot of money available from the TIGER II grant program.

The DOT still has not formally announced a full list of grant recipients, though news of specific projects like the Stadium bridges has been leaked to the media by various sources.

The grants are being awarded on a competitive basis to projects that are expected to create jobs and have a significant impact on the economy.

Ann Arbor resident Ned Staebler, a vice president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said the Stadium bridges project will put about 450 people to work full-time during its peak and will open up a gateway to Ann Arbor's future.

"Why is this project so important? To be successful in transitioning our economy to one that is knowledge-based, based on high-skill, high-wage jobs, you have to have a hub," Staebler said at today's event. "Ann Arbor — with the University of Michigan that did over $1 billion in research last year and is part of the University Research Corridor that since 2007 has had close to $15 billion in economic impact on our state — and the innovation and entrepreneurship that's happening all around this city, serves as a great hub for that new economy."

A trail of letters obtained by AnnArbor.com show several entities — all the way up to the MEDC — went to bat for Ann Arbor in the final days before the U.S. DOT made its decision.

"This project sort of hung on the cusp for a while, and it is one of two I'm told that are going to be coming into this state," Dingell told today's crowd. "And I've got to say, I'm very proud because you all worked very hard. When the time came that we all had to pull together, you all pulled together. We got the letters and the help that we needed from everybody."

The city offered its own list of reasons back in June on why the project should receive federal funding. But knowing the federal government was interested in projects that offer the greatest economic impact, those who made a final push for the Stadium bridges replacement project in the last two weeks made sure to emphasize the importance of the bridges to U-M.

Mayor John Hieftje wrote a letter to Dingell two weeks ago, saying the Stadium bridges serve as a lifeline to U-M, an institution Hieftje called "integral to sustaining and improving the economic health and vitality of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County and the state of Michigan."

"As you know, business leaders in Michigan often point to Ann Arbor with its high-tech research and development economies anchored by the University of Michigan as the model and best hope for revival in a state that has been hit hard by the long recession," Hieftje wrote, noting that just last year a national PBS report titled, "Ann Arbor, Michigan's Life Preserver," highlighted the vital role the city plays in the state's economy.

Hieftje also said in his letter the Stadium bridges support more than 48,000 vehicles per day. That includes the 28,000 that cross over them, and 20,000 that cross under them.

"The corridor and bridges serve U-M's Medical Center, the state's preeminent medical and research facility, and new Research Park, as well as the nation's largest athletic arena, The Big House, and also connect our region's downtown and business centers with one another as well as citizens of the region," Hieftje wrote. The loss of the bridges, he said, would have a "significant deleterious impact" on the regional economy and quality of life.

On the same day that Hieftje authored his letter, two other letters were sent to Dingell — one from Cynthia Wilbanks, U-M's vice president for government relations, and one from Diane Keller, president and CEO of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Wilbanks said university officials forecast "very robust growth" in the future, and the deteriorating condition of the Stadium bridges "stand as a blight on the city’s infrastructure." She noted specifically that U-M intends to add up to 3,000 jobs at its North Campus Research Complex, the former Pfizer research site the university acquired last year.

"In addition, our C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voightlander Women’s Hospital will add about 500 new health care jobs when they open in late 2011," she wrote, adding U-M's economic development activities produced close to 50 new companies in the last five years.

Keller wrote in her letter to Dingell that Ann Arbor has been one of the few bright spots throughout Michigan’s economic malaise.

"This is, in large part, due to the university, its research and development activities, business spin-offs, associated job creation, as well as our region’s focus on economic development, business incubation and support services, and overall entrepreneurial atmosphere," she wrote. "Suffice it to say that a healthy Ann Arbor area is key to a reinvigorated Michigan, and that these bridges are key to the Ann Arbor area’s continued health."

Gregory Main, president and CEO of the MEDC, wrote in a letter to Dingell last week that the Stadium bridges "serve a larger purpose for the economic development of Ann Arbor and Michigan through their role in facilitating access to the University of Michigan." 

Main noted the research generated at U-M spurs spin-off business development in the areas of automotive engineering, health care and scientific development. He concluded the bridges serve as an example of "how critical infrastructure projects are to economic development in Southeast Michigan."

Dingell took all of those letters and, in turn, relayed the support to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Deputy Secretary John Porcari last week — just four days before the news of the grant award was announced.

Dingell made the case that "closing or obstructing access to Ann Arbor and U-M would be severely detrimental to one of the strongest and most successful parts of Michigan's economy."

"It is no surprise that Michigan's economy has suffered mightily during this recession," Dingell wrote. "We have been faced with the downsizing of the lifeblood of Southeast Michigan — the auto industry — and now are looking to attract new industries to our great state. No community has done a better job of this than the city of Ann Arbor and the U-M."

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.