TRAVERSE CITY — The planned demolition of the pedestrian bridge by Traverse City State Park is drawing pushback from Northern Michigan lawmakers, who say authorities should reconsider their plans.
The project would include a new entrance intersection just west of the bridge, part of a set of upgrades that park managers say would improve the visitor experience.
“Through our planning process, the park entrance is going to be moving to almost the exact same location as where the bridge is currently,” said Kasey Cline, the Department of Natural Resources’ Cadillac District Supervisor. “It checks a lot of boxes to have a lit intersection here that can help manage the vehicular traffic, as well as the pedestrian traffic.”
Cline, also the former manager of Traverse City State Park, says that the campground has suffered from vehicle congestion for decades.
“Seeing the lines backing up for the dump station, and seeing the lines backing up for people getting ready to leave, the lines backing up of people coming into the park, and it just — that’s not the camping experience that we wanted to bring,” she said.
The current plans include establishing a new traffic light intersection with protected turn lanes and pedestrian crosswalks.
But Northern Michigan lawmakers say that the department should reconsider their plans, citing concerns about pedestrians crossing on the same level as cars.
“I don’t know that a crosswalk and a light necessarily is the way to go,” said Rep. John Roth, (R) District 104, Interlochen. “I think we need to really delve into this more and look at a good plan going forward.”
Rep. Betsy Coffia, (D) District 103, Traverse City, says in a statement that she’s pushing for the DNR to develop a
The current bridge is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act — and the DNR says that building a compliant bridge would take a quarter mile of ramps and around $20 million.
“I have been in touch with the DNR to advocate for the project to include a pedestrian bridge that would be both ADA-compliant and keep our residents away from traffic when crossing, which the proposed crosswalk and traffic light would not do”
Coffia says she’s received estimates from engineers that estimate the project would cost around $3-5 million.
“There’s got to be some solution that doesn’t involve taking down this bridge,” said Sen. John Damoose, (R) District 37, Harbor Springs. “Because anybody driving down that busy road, especially this time of year, knows it’s better to have people going across the bridge than walking across the road.”
The new phase of construction is set to start on July 7th, but Cline says the bridge wouldn’t close immediately.
She says the new entrance road will be a high priority for developers, meaning the bridge could close sometime in the coming weeks depending on the surrounding construction.
The physical dismantling of the bridge would likely take place in the colder months.
Cline says the park will put out updates on its Facebook page as construction progresses.