The pedestrian bridge over US-31 near the Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park is slated to be removed the weekend of September 20-21, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced Monday. Both the bridge work and planned highway work will have impacts on US-31 traffic.

According to the DNR, highwork work will begin on Monday, September 15 as contractors begin preparations to widen US-31 by 20 feet and build a new right-turn lane into the park campground. The move is ultimately "expected to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion for westbound vehicles," according to the DNR. During construction, a northern lane shift will eliminate the middle turn lane but maintain two lanes of traffic in both eastbound and westbound directions.

Pedestrian bridge removal work is scheduled to take place overnight from 6pm Saturday, September 20 to 6am Sunday, September 21 to minimize traffic disruptions. A signed detour will be in place routing US-31 traffic via Three and Four Mile roads to Hammond Road. After the pedestrian bridge is removed, the stairs and remaining structure will be taken down in two stages. During construction, a southern lane shift will eliminate the middle turn lane but maintain two lanes of traffic in both eastbound and westbound directions.

The bridge removal and highway work is part of an $8.5 million reconstruction project underway at the State Park. The park is closed now and will remain so through the end of the 2026 camping season. The campground will reopen April 1, 2027. A new park entrance with a full traffic signal and at-grade pedestrian crosswalks are planned to replace the bridge. Work will also entail tearing down the lodge, building new park headquarters, and improving the park’s sanitation pump-out capacity, internal traffic circulation, and customer service areas. The project is being funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The removal of the pedestrian bridge has been a contentious issue in the community. The DNR said Monday it is "committed to working with the community to find a new location for a pedestrian bridge once the current one is removed. Several things have to be accomplished before a new bridge compliant with ADA accessibility guidelines can be built. This includes identification and acquisition of appropriate land where the bridge can be located. Adequate funding for the project also must be identified, since such funding does not exist within the current DNR budget. The DNR is working toward those goals with state partners, the local community and state legislators, including Rep. Betsy Coffia, Rep. John Roth, and Sen. John Damoose."