Over 100 Michigan bridges still face future closures due to funding gaps
Two months after the Michigan Department of Transportation sounded the alarm on funding needs to repair bridges nearing or past the end of their lifespan in August, the Michigan Legislature passed its transportation funding package, which also established the Neighborhood Roads Fund.
However, MDOT says many trunkline bridges, ones on state roads and interstates, are still at risk of closing within the next 20 years.
MDOT says the majority of those dollars are going to local bridge repairs and replacements, not trunkline bridges like the one on M-14 in Ann Arbor that goes over the Huron River.
"The bridge that you're at in Ann Arbor is on our list of bridges that we are watching for potential closure between 2035-2045," said MDOT Chief Bridge Engineer Rebecca Curtis.
Closures, MDOT says, happen when a bridge is no longer safe enough to drive on. While they say replacement is the ideal solution, a $150 million endeavor for the Huron River M-14 bridge, closure could hurt even more.
"That could lead to long detours. It might separate communities from their major shopping districts, emergency services, schools, daycares, all the things that people need to live a good life," Curtis said.
Curtis says more than 100 other trunkline bridges are at risk of closure by 2035 without more robust funding. CBS News Detroit asked her how they can fill funding gaps going forward.
"It might require looking at which projects are the highest priority statewide instead of breaking it up on a regional level, but we are trying to address that," she said.
Three local bridges in Washtenaw County are using MDOT funds that go into effect in 2026.
The Cherry Hill Road bridge over Fleming Creek is getting rehabbed with MDOT funding, at least 80% of the $1.18 million price tag.
The 105-year-old Main Street bridge in Whitmore Lake is getting replaced with MDOT funding for at least 80% of the $2.3 million cost.
They're also funding at least half of the $5.93 million project to address the Cross Street Bridge over the Huron River in Ypsilanti, according to MDOT's Local Bridge Program page.
Curtis says they'll prioritize repairing and replacing trunkline bridges with the most positive community impacts when, and if, that funding becomes available, which could be busy trucking routes like the one on M-14, or ones that bridge the only main roads connecting communities in rural areas.