County Road 595 (CR 595, Co. Rd. 595) was a proposed primary county road in Marquette County in the US state of Michigan. The road would have provided access from the northern part of the county, near the Eagle Mine in Michigamme Township, to US Highway 41 (US 41) and M-28 in Humboldt Township. The approximately road would have been used primarily for commercial truck traffic hauling rock from the Eagle Mine to a processing facility south of US 41/M-28 in Humboldt Township. At present, such traffic has to use existing county roads which involves passing through the cities of Marquette, Negaunee, and Ishpeming. The northern end would have been northeast of the mine in Champion Township at an intersection with the Triple A Road (Co. Rd. AAA).
In 2003, a flood along the Dead River destroyed or forced the closure of several bridges over the river, isolating the northern half of the county. In 2007, Kennecott Minerals received permission to operate the Eagle Mine in the northern part of Marquette County. The company, in a consortium with other local businesses, proposed the construction of a new road to connect their mine with their mill at the former Humboldt Mine. This project, called Woodland Road, was to be built by these private interests. After encountering permitting issues, the private companies involved canceled the project.
The Marquette County Road Commission (MCRC) applied for permits from the state and federal governments in 2010, reviving the road as CR 595. Kennecott pledged to finance construction, but removed its support in early 2011 over uncertainty in the permit timetable. After protests from the City of Marquette and local residents, Kennecott restored its commitments to the project. The MCRC moved forward through the permitting process in 2012. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed two formal objections to the road. In response, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the state-level agency handling the permit application, opened a public comment period and held a public hearing on the matter. Several groups spoke in support and opposition, various local, state and federal officials expressed support for the project, and the EPA maintained its objections. After several deadline extensions, the agency lifted one objection and reiterated a second, setting a 30-day timetable in December 2012 for a final decision. The DEQ was forced to deny the permit on January 3, 2013, based on the EPA position on CR 595. With that action, Kennecott Minerals diverted its financial support from the project to upgrade existing roads instead. In late December 2014, state legislators announced interest in suing the EPA in an effort to force federal permits to be issued to build the roadway; the MCRC announced their intent to sue the EPA in January 2015, and the suit was filed on July 8, 2015. The final appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States was denied without review on March 4, 2019.
Route description The county road would have started at its southern end at an intersection with US 41/M-28 in Humboldt Township. This intersection would be east of the intersection known as Koski Corners, where US 41/M-28 intersects M-95. From its terminus, CR 595 would have run north and passed into Champion Township near a crossing of a line of the Canadian National Railway before turning eastward. The road would have crossed the Middle Branch of the Escanaba River and continued northeasterly into the adjacent Ely Township. Planning maps from late 2011 show CR 595 following what is now Wolf Lake Road in the area but bypassing some curves to follow a straighter route. South of Brocky Lake, the new county road would have crossed the Second River and turned northwesterly parallel to Dishno Road back into Champion Township. This proposed route would have turned back northward near Wolf Lake, crossed Voelkers Creek and passed to the west of Silver Lake through hilly terrain. Immediately west of Silver Lake, CR 595 would have crossed the Dead River and Wildcat Canyon Creek. Through this area, the road would have passed through land owned by one of a few timber companies and other developers. To the north, there would have been a crossing of Mulligan Creek in Michigamme Township south of the mine property. North of the mine, CR 595 was to turn northeasterly through the Yellow Dog Plains and crossed the Yellow Dog River before re-entering Champion Township. Immediately after crossing that political boundary, CR 595 would have terminated at the intersection with Triple A Road (Co. Rd. AAA) near the Salmon Trout River. Along the proposed route, the terrain is heavily forested and hilly, except in the vicinity of the lakes, rivers and streams where there are wetlands.
History
Background
On May 14, 2003, a section of the Silver Lake Dam failed in northwestern Marquette County. The area received of rain, and an earthen dike breached. The failure sent of water rushing down the Dead River. The flood waters forced the closure of the Steel Bridge carrying CR 510 over the river. As the waters approached the city of Marquette, the old CR 550 bridge was submerged, and the newer parallel structure that carries CR 550 was closed to traffic as well. The effect of these road closures isolated Big Bay from the rest of the county. The flooding damaged or destroyed the bridges carrying county roads AAO and AAT over the river, as well as the Lakeshore Boulevard and old CR 550 bridges. Several other bridges on tributaries of the Dead River were impacted by flooding. The MCRC and City of Marquette estimated that the road-related damages were in the neighborhood of $650,000 (equivalent to $ in ).
Since the flood a new, roughly bridge has been constructed on CR 510, ensuring that any future flooding on the Dead River would not necessitate closure of the modern bridge. This structure was built at that height in order to benefit commercial interests in the area, as well as to provide the area with reliable public and emergency access.
Rio Tinto Group, the British-based parent company of Kennecott Minerals received permission in 2007 to operate a nickel mine on the Yellow Dog Plains in Marquette County. The mine, dubbed Project Eagle or the Eagle Mine by the company, has been controversial with area residents. Some residents have praised the project as good for the economy, while others including area Indian tribes, have opposed the development citing environmental concerns. Lawsuits have delayed construction and operation of the mine, in addition to economic concerns. Kennecott started construction on the mine in 2011, and they expected to begin mineral extraction in 2013. Opposition to the mine and its operation extended to plans to construct a new road to carry the ore from the mine to a mill for processing.
Woodland Road Kennecott Minerals, in a consortium with other businesses, originally proposed a privately built road in the area called Woodland Road. The group included the Michigan Forest Products Council, a local construction company, and local landowners. Kennecott wanted the road to shorten the truck route from the Eagle Mine to its processing mill in Humboldt Township from over the previously approved route along Triple A Road (Co. Rd. AAA), CR 510, CR 550 and US 41/M-28. According to the permit application, the road was also to improve access to the forest lands in the area used by timber companies for logging, and it was to provide enhanced recreational access to remote areas of Marquette County. The private interests involved planned to build and maintain Woodland Road to state and county road standards at no cost to the county road commission.
By March 2010 the project had encountered permit issues. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) asked the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) to deny the necessary wetlands mitigations permits and to reconsider "alternative transportation routes that utilize existing main roads". The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (CoE) were also critical of the project. Based on the actions by the EPA, if the DNRE did not deny the permits, and EPA objections were not resolved, the project would require clearance through the CoE under the Clean Water Act. Local citizens' groups joined the federal agencies in criticizing the road.
In the face of the federal agency opposition, the consortium withdrew their permit applications in May 2010. The businesses involved indicated at the time that they would revise their proposals and reapply. Local government leaders supported the road as a means to support economic activity and reduce truck traffic through populated areas in the county.
County involvement The MCRC became involved with the roadway, which they gave the CR 595 designation, in October 2010. The commission approved a resolution to authorize planning of an all-weather, road. Members of the public present for the meeting expressed opposition to the project that would have been funded by Kennecott Minerals. The company provided assurances to the county that they would pay the $50- to 80-million cost to plan and construct CR 595. The director of the DNRE said that the department was weighing the options between environmental impacts of the road and impacts of mine truck traffic using the previously approved route through Marquette, Negaunee and Ishpeming.
Kennecott removed its support for the project during January 2011. In a statement, the company said that the timeline for the permit process was uncertain, and they considered their currently permitted route to the best option. This move angered city officials in Marquette because it meant a return to trucking ore through the city along CR 550, Sugarloaf Avenue and Wright Street. MCRC officials had stated that "we're going to push it as hard and as fast as we can", according to the board chairman. After the company backed away, local officials protested Kennecott's return to its previously approved trucking route between the mine and the mill.
Within a month however, the company reinstated support for the project after the MCRC asked Kennecott to reconsider. The company held a series of public forums starting in April 2011 about their operations, including transportation plans, and the road commission did the same that August.
Moving forward with the permit process In September 2011, the MCRC voted to move forward with a modified routing to CR 595; the new route was to pass to the west of Brocky Lake instead of the east to address concerns from the public. The new route decreased the length by while adding another creek crossing. The EPA and local environmental groups opposed the road, while Humboldt Township officials supported it.
As part of the permitting process the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) held public hearings in 2012 about the CR 595 project. In drafting its application, the MCRC said that the purpose of the project is: To construct a primary county north–south road that connects and improves emergency, commercial, industrial and recreational access to a somewhat isolated but key industrial and recreational area in northwest Marquette County to US 41; and