HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — As traffic picks up on the Mackinac Bridge for the traditional increase in warmer season travel, so does the work required to maintain this engineering icon.
Seaway Painting is wrapping up five seasons as a state contractor devoted to stripping and repainting the bridge’s twin ivory towers. At the same time, the Mackinac Bridge Authority’s (MBA) team of dedicated maintenance staff is out on the bridge deck, replacing pieces of the original decking, repairing deck joints, and cleaning off a winter’s worth of grit tracked onto the bridge.
“Like with road work and maintenance anywhere else, the season for taking care of the Mackinac Bridge coincides with the peak of tourism travel in northern Michigan,” said Kim Nowack, MBA’s executive secretary. “We realize the views of the Straits of Mackinac are tempting, but we need customers to focus their attention on driving, especially when passing work zones on the bridge.”
Delays for work on the bridge are generally minimal, as most lane closures are removed for holidays and peak traffic periods, but in some cases those lane closures must remain in place even when traffic picks up.
“We’re all in a hurry to get where we’re going, particularly when we’re on vacation, but it’s critically important that drivers slow down and set aside any distractions when they are passing through one of our work zones,” Nowack said. “A moment of inattention could result in a terrible tragedy.”
What typically results in traffic backups at the bridge is the surge of weekend traffic from late spring through fall, particularly from 2 to 6 p.m. on Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Even with all toll booths open, the sheer volume of traffic sometimes exceeds the capacity of the toll workers. The bridge takes many types of payment now, including cash, credit/debit cards, Apple Pay/Google Pay, and MacPass, the fastest transaction type.
“Our toll workers are always doing the best they can to get drivers through the toll booths as quickly as possible,” Nowack said. “We just ask that customers exercise their patience as they approach the booths.”
The Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority (MSCA), tasked with overseeing the building and operation of a utility tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, will meet to discuss past and ongoing exploratory and planning work for the tunnel.
The authority’s full agenda is available online. Members of the MSCA, Enbridge, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and interested members of the public will be in attendance to the meeting. The meeting is scheduled to take place on 1 p.m. June 2, 2021.
To limit the spread of COVID-19, the MSCA is meeting virtually on the Microsoft Teams platform under provisions of Mackinac County’s resolution and extension of a Local State of Emergency.
The meeting will be available for public viewing through YouTube (with closed captioning) at https://youtu.be/aRAa-0zjsCI and Livestream at https://livestream.com/mdot/
People are encouraged to address authority members by using the sign-up function provided in the online public comment form. Public comments will be scheduled in the order they are received through the sign-up function, limited to three minutes per comment within the allotted time for the meeting until 4 p.m.
Written comments received by 10 a.m. June 2, will be shared with authority members in advance of the meeting. All written public comments received in the online comment form until the conclusion of the meeting will be posted with the approved meeting minutes.
The tunnel will house a replacement segment for the Enbridge Line 5 light oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines that currently sit on the bottom of the Straits and will accommodate other utilities to improve infrastructure connections between the peninsulas. MSCA will own the tunnel after it has been built and will provide independent oversight throughout its life.
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