MACKINAC BRIDGE — 33,000 people crossed the Mackinac Bridge on foot early Monday morning for the annual Labor Day Bridge Walk.
The Mackinac Bridge Authority says 3,000 more people participated this year than last.
Along with all of the walkers and runners, hundreds of first responders, including Michigan State Police, helped monitor and secure the Mackinac Bridge and the area around it.
They did not just patrol the bridge itself, they also kept an eye the waterway under it and the airspace above it.
There was a temporary flight restriction in place near the bridge along with all vessel traffic prohibited, unless prior approval was given by the U.S. Coast Guard.
For such a big event, planning takes the entire year. MSP Lieutenant Ben Eckola says the state police alone had several hundred personnel working the event, both uniformed and undercover, “the general public would probably be surprised as to how much planning and how much it takes to prepare for a big event like this. Whether it be government or private partnerships, that’s where having good communication and coming up with these plans. There are hundreds of hours of planning.”
Besides providing security, Eckola says troopers also answered a lot of questions from bridge walk participants.