Historic Wisconsin bridge to shut down in three phases for repairs

The historic Michigan Street Bridge will be shut down in early December for repairs following an incident with a semi truck. 

The Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin bridge will be shut down to vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the first phase of repairs, beginning early on Monday, December 6th and will remain closed until Friday evening, December 10th. The bridge will then be reopened for the weekend. 

The second phase of repairs will begin on Monday morning, December 13th, once again shutting the bridge to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The bridge is expected to reopen on Friday evening, December 17th. 

A third phase of bridge repair is also expected in February, but the exact dates have not been released, as the beams required to complete those repairs must be custom designed and fabricated due to the bridge’s age, reported the Green Bay Press Gazette.

The project will work to repair damaged overhead structures leading to the bridge, which were damaged when a too-tall semi truck struck several of the overhead support beams in an accident back in October, spilling hydraulic fluid. 

While the Wisconsin DOT says that there are no “immediate concerns” regarding the structural integrity of the bridge, completing the repairs is integral to keeping the bridge in working order for the future. 

During the closures, vehicle traffic is encouraged to use the Maple/Oregon Bridge in the city or the Bayview Bridge (State 42/57) bypassing downtown. Marine traffic will still be flowing beneath the bridge throughout construction. 

The Michigan Street Bridge was first opened in 1931, and is the only one of its kind left in Wisconsin. It was scheduled for demolition back in 1996 due to maintenance issues, but citizens fought to preserve the bridge due to its “rare and significant engineering.” The bridge was placed on the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places in 2007, and the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The bridge went through a two year rehabilitation project starting in 2008, and has been in operation ever since.