Recent vehicle damage to the pedestrian bridge over US-31 near the Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park could hasten the demolition of the structure. Kasey Cline of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says the bridge will likely either be patched to ensure it remains structurally sound until demolition or be demolished sooner than expected. Meanwhile, the DNR said Thursday it’s possible a new ADA-accessible bridge could be built over US-31 in the future – though a lack of location and funding make it unclear whether such a structure could materialize anytime soon.

A commercial dump truck pulling a trailer loaded with an excavator hit the pedestrian bridge last week. The collision caused a piece of debris to fall and strike a passenger car. No injuries were reported. Now, the DNR is evaluating its options – including repairing the bridge so it stays stable until next year, when it’s scheduled to be demolished, or taking the bridge out in the near future. The bridge is not expected to reopen to pedestrians either way, Cline says, adding the primary concern now is another vehicle crashing into the weakened structure.

The bridge is being removed as part of an $8.5 million Traverse City State Park renovation project funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. The park is closed now for construction work and will remain so through the end of the 2026 camping season. 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.

Despite public blowback to the bridge’s planned removal – including a unanimous resolution from Grand Traverse County commissioners supporting the structure’s preservation – the project is proceeding as planned. ARPA funds must be spent by the end of 2026, so the DNR is on a tight timeline to complete project work. DNR officials previously gave several reasons the bridge needed to be removed, including its deteriorating condition, lack of accessibility, blocked sight lines for the new traffic signal, at-grade crossings for maintenance equipment to go between the campground and beach, safety risks from bridge users throwing objects at traffic, and the prohibitive cost of building a replacement bridge.

However, bridge supporters got a burst of hope this week when State Rep. Betsy Coffia announced that DNR Director Scott Bowen confirmed in writing to her that “they will find a way to replace the current bridge with an ADA-compliant pedestrian bridge.” In a text with The Ticker, Coffia said Bowen “committed to meeting regularly with myself and possible Senator Damoose as well as we work on resolving this. We are supposed to meet in a month to see what progress has been made.” Coffia added that she intends to hold Bowen to his commitment – “and our community should as well.”

In a written statement to The Ticker Thursday, Bowen said the DNR is “committed to working with the community to find a new location for a pedestrian bridge that will be removed and replaced with an at-grade crossing as part of the renovation of Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park.” However, he cautiously pointed to several outstanding factors that could significantly impact the feasibility and timing of such a project.

“First, land must be identified where the bridge can be built,” Bowen wrote. Since the DNR plans to complete its ARPA project as planned, a new bridge could likely not go in anywhere near the existing bridge location since it would block visibility of the new traffic signal. That could mean looking elsewhere along the US-31 corridor for possible locations, which would likely require the cooperation of other property owners, in addition to the Michigan Department of Transportation and East Bay Township.

A past proposal to build a Hyatt House hotel on vacant land next to the State Park at one time contemplated the possibility of building an ADA-accessible bridge at that site. It’s possible that or another site could emerge as possibilities again in the future. “There's absolutely a willingness from the township to pursue locations for a bridge,” says Township Director of Planning & Zoning Claire Karner.

Another major factor is cost, however. “We need to identify funding for the project, which does not exist within the current DNR budget,” Bowen wrote. Estimates at one time put an ADA-accessible bridge at $20 million, though more recent estimates brought the potential price tag down to around $7 million. Still, securing millions of dollars in funding for one project with limited DNR capital outlay funds available and countless competing needs statewide could prove to be a significant hurdle to the bridge’s construction.

One potential option on the table is East Bay Township’s exploration of establishing a corridor improvement authority (CIA) – a type of TIF district – for the Beach District along US-31. The township will host community informational sessions on the CIA on Wednesday, July 30 at East Bay Township Hall from 4pm-6pm and at Hopscotch Brick Oven & Taproom from 6:30pm-8pm. The township board will hold a public hearing on the CIA on August 11. If adopted, the CIA would provide a new funding mechanism for public improvements along US-31 – with the top priority identified by residents as safer pedestrian crossings, whether at-grade crossings, bridges, or tunnels. A new pedestrian bridge could “absolutely” be a project included in the CIA plan, Karner says.

“I think the CIA could be one piece of the funding solution, and we’d also be looking for the DNR to be a collaborative partner in seeking funding,” Karner says. She adds that East Bay Township is also in talks with the DNR about adding two BATA pullouts at the revamped State Park for the Bayline, though those improvements aren’t included in the ARPA budget. “We have a lot of desire to work collaboratively with the State Park on public infrastructure, so I think there’s a lot of opportunity there,” Karner says. Bowen said the DNR will “work with legislators, state partners, and the local community” on identifying property and funding options for a potential future bridge.