NEWS

Drawbridges to open as early as Monday night

Liz Shepard and Bob Gross

Take a deep breath, the end is near.

The main traffic artery that stretches along the St. Clair River in St. Clair County could return to normal as soon as Monday evening.

Jim Petronski, a project manager with the Michigan Department of Transportation, said final inspections of the Military Street Bridge in Port Huron and M-29 bridge over the Pine River in St. Clair are set for Monday.

Both bridges have been closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic since mid-January, as crews made electrical and mechanical upgrades as part of the $2.8 million project. Both bridges also were painted.

Petronski said both projects went well and will be completed by the March 31 deadline, despite starting late.

If the Monday inspections go smoothly, Petronski said the bridges could open as early as Monday evening. If further items need to be done, the bridges will be open by Tuesday at the latest.

For the most part, Petronski said the detours around the bridge closures went smoothly. He said a visually impaired man in Port Huron was often driven by work crews around the detour, or escorted across the bridge when work allowed.

Trucks heading to Cargill in St. Clair had issues with the detours at the beginning of the closure, but added signage alleviated those problems, Petronski said.

Bill Barrons, owner of Angler's Outfitters in St. Clair, is ready to see traffic flowing back over the Pine River.

"I was down there yesterday and I'm looking at the pile of rubble and thought there has to be more to it than I thought."

He said people in town "simply can't wait. They are champing at the bit and every person who walks through the door is like, 'This must be killing you.'"

He said his business started slowly in March and then took off and he wondered how much better it would have been if the bridge had been open.

"I had a lady who came in yesterday, and she is one of my really good customers. She's literally on the other side of the bridge, and she left her wallet at home."

She told him she'd come back the next day because she didn't want to make the trip twice in one day.

"If it opens on time, I'll be ecstatic," Barrons said.