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It will likely take six or more months to reopen Beitner Road after its bridge over the Boardman River collapsed Tuesday. At a press conference Wednesday, Grand Traverse County Road Commission (GTCRC) Manager Dan Watkins said Cass Road will become the default bypass for the summer \u2013 with possible temporary traffic signals going in on both ends of Hartman Road.<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, South Airport Road \u2013 which Watkins said at one point faced a similar risk of collapse by Logan\u2019s Landing \u2013 could reopen within a week. The Ticker<\/em> has the latest on those and other flooding updates, from a major downtown sinkhole to a state emergency declaration to potential environmental impacts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Watkins said he was at the scene of the Beitner bridge examining a sinkhole when the guardrails started making odd noises, with the structure then suddenly giving away (pictured). GTCRC immediately shut down the Beitner corridor, with no one fortunately hurt. Beitner was already set to have its bridge replaced<\/a>, but work wasn\u2019t planned to begin until 2027. Watkins said GTCRC is now working to accelerate the final design so work can begin as soon as possible. He estimates the bridge will take at least six months to repair \u2013 meaning traffic will be significantly disrupted across the peak summer months, something GTCRC had tried to avoid.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Watkins said GTCRC is working with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) on solutions that could include installing temporary lights on both ends of Hartman \u2013 on US-31 and Cass -\u2013 to control traffic until Beitner is restored. MDOT North Region Communications Specialist James Lake confirmed the state is talking to GTCRC but will \u201cneed to look at a design\u2026before we can give final approval.\u201d MDOT is still moving ahead with its Interlochen\/US-31 project as planned, Lake said. Cass Road was set to be reconstructed this year<\/a> between South Airport and the Cass bridge, but that project will now likely be delayed, Watkins said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Watkins said there was a \u201creal chance\u201d South Airport Road could also have been lost at its Boardman crossing by Logan\u2019s Landing Tuesday night. However, crews were able to successfully deploy sandbags and \u201csave\u201d the road, he said. South Airport, which sees roughly 40,000 cars a day in that stretch, could reopen within a week provided the structure is stable. Watkins said several engineers are evaluating the earth underneath, which is highly saturated and still has the potential to shift the road. However, for now South Airport appears to be \u201cholding together,\u201d Watkins said. Other local road closures included Sawyer Road, Marsh Road, Bush Road, Rahe Road, and Hannah Road, with pockets of flooding scattered elsewhere throughout the county.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Boardman flooding also significantly impacted downtown Traverse City. FishPass continued to take on more water, though City Manager Benjamin Marentette said that experts on the engineering and design team had evaluated the site and found \u201ceverything is intact. We\u2019re hopeful that remains the case.\u201d Those same experts advised that if the city hadn\u2019t replaced the deteriorating Union Street Dam<\/a> with FishPass, \u201cwe would have likely seen catastrophic circumstances in downtown Traverse City\u201d from the\u00a0flooding this week, Marentette said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n In the 100 block alley of Front Street, a massive sinkhole opened up near the river retaining wall, swallowing a section of a sidewalk and a light pole. City Streets Division Superintendent Chris Weber said crews worked with Traverse City Light & Power to disconnect the power to the light pole and removed parking signs and a pay station. The retaining wall has long been an issue; the Boardman has repeatedly scoured out the soil underneath the wall footing, with sinkholes occurring in the alley for years. In this case, Weber says the wall is currently stable and the water \u201cis doing our work\u201d by excavating down to the bottom. Crews then plan to use a combination of rock, fabric\/membrane, and concrete to fill the hole. Weber also helped pulled trees out of the downtown fish weir and said that while flooding was prominent along the river, levels were also receding Wednesday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n City Director of Municipal Utilities Art Krueger said the city\u2019s pipes and wastewater treatment plant have continued to perform \u201creally well,\u201d with no issues except for one on Boardman Lake. Because the lake is so high, the level in the UV channel \u2013 which provides a final \u201czap\u201d to the treated water as it exits the plant \u2013 has also been raised, meaning a portion of the outgoing flow isn\u2019t receiving the final UV light. Krueger said the state has been notified and staff are repeatedly sampling to ensure there are no bacterial issues with water entering the lake. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had any high hits,\u201d he says, adding that UV system upgrades are part of several major repairs planned soon at the plant.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Several closures occurred Wednesday due to flooding issues, ranging from Father Fred to Meals on Wheels to Senior Center programming to trail closures around Medalie Park and the Natural Education Reserve. Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) and other districts also closed Wednesday at the county\u2019s request due to the unknown condition of numerous back roads, in addition to main arteries being down. TCAPS has an early release day today (Thursday) but said it planned to be open, though delays were expected at both morning pick-up and afternoon drop-off. Parents can use the MyRide K-12 app<\/a> to monitor their students\u2019 transportation status, with traffic impacts and new bus routes expected in some areas.<\/p>\n
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