Bad Axe advances public-safety building and South Hanselman Street improvements with new funding

Bad Axe is advancing two separate local investments: an $850,000 federal grant reported for a new public-safety building and a $162,500 Michigan Department of Transportation grant for South Hanselman Street.

The public-safety project is intended to serve police and fire functions. A project summary from Sen. Gary Peters lists the City of Bad Axe Public Safety Building among local projects he requested in the fiscal year 2026 government funding bills. Michigan-focused reporting said the project was backed by an $850,000 federal grant secured through an appropriations law.

The Bad Axe City Council’s March 16, 2026, meeting minutes also document municipal discussion connected to the public-safety building project and other city business.

South Hanselman Street grant

MDOT’s fiscal year 2026 Category B approved-project list names the City of Bad Axe as the recipient of a grant for South Hanselman Street in Huron County. The grant is $162,500, and the city is required to provide a matching $162,500 contribution.

That produces a listed total project cost of $325,000. The MDOT approval record identifies the project and funding amounts but does not specify the precise work planned, a construction schedule or a contractor.

The road grant is separate from a $1 million entry in the Michigan House’s 2026 legislatively directed spending record. That entry lists the Huron County Hockey Association as the recipient at 216 South Hanselman Street in Bad Axe, with a listed amount of $1 million.

The cited records do not establish that the hockey-association spending entry and the public-safety-building grant are the same award. They identify different recipients and different funding records, while the MDOT listing separately identifies the City of Bad Axe for the South Hanselman Street project.

What happens next

The funding records move Bad Axe closer to a new police-and-fire facility and provide a defined state grant and local-match requirement for the street project. The investments could support expanded emergency-service capacity and transportation improvements, but neither project is documented as complete.

The public records cited for the building project do not set a construction start date, completion date, final design or confirmed final location. The next known step is continued municipal work on the public-safety project and administration of the MDOT-funded South Hanselman Street improvements.