TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Traverse City residents and local lawmakers are frustrated with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) with their plans to charge ahead and demolish the pedestrian bridge over U.S. 31.
The bridge has safely connected beachgoers and campers at Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park since 1966. It was built after a child was killed crossing the busy highway. But come next summer, it’s slated for removal in favor of a 60-foot, at-grade crosswalk and traffic light even though traffic has only gotten busier in the area since the 1960’s.
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The locals? Not thrilled. And neither are their elected officials.
Lawmakers hit a wall of bureaucracy.
State Senator John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) didn’t mince words about the DNR’s tone-deaf approach. “Normally the DNR is responsive and they’re good to work with,” Damoose told UpNorthLive. “But in this case I just think they have their mind made up. Our requests to reconsider have sort of fallen on deaf ears.”
Damoose also told MLive, “The public has been very outspoken about their desire to keep the bridge, and there is no way in this era of distracted driving that walking across a busy highway is safer than passing over it on a bridge.”
Joining him in a bipartisan fashion is State Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City), who urged the DNR in a July 3 letter to reconsider their decision. She said in the letter that she has “serious safety concerns about removing the pedestrian bridge entirely and not replacing it with a new or updated pedestrian bridge.”
Coffia went on to say, “I recognize the pedestrian bridge infrastructure is dated and not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but I have heard loud and clear from constituents that for safety reasons, any planned improvements need to include updating or replacing the pedestrian bridge, not eliminating it.”
Additionally, according to the Traverse City Ticker, the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a letter that went to state representatives in support of preserving the pedestrian bridge.
“Accessibility” becomes the excuse.
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The DNR says the bridge has outlived its lifespan and no longer meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. They also say that the estimated cost for a new compliant bridge would cost $20 million. Instead, they plan to slap a traffic signal and crosswalk across a highway that, during summer, can feel more like a racetrack.
DNR Cadillac District Supervisor Kasey Cline assured MLive the department is working with lawmakers and that “this project is important to the community.” However, that doesn’t appear to ring true when residents and politicians are saying the department isn’t listening to their concerns about the DNR’s decision.
Park renovations get green light, while safety gets the boot.
The bridge removal is part of a larger facelift for the state park, using $8.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that need to be spent by the end of 2026.
The park closed on July 7 after the Cherry Festival commenced and will remain shut through the 2026 season, reopening in 2027. The bridge demolition will happen sometime during that closure.
ADA compliancy: what about roundabouts?
Although the DNR and MDOT cite the pedestrian bridge as being non-compliant with ADA regulations, Michigan and other states around the country have no problems putting in roundabouts that many disabled people can’t navigate. They present serious accessibility challenges, especially for blind or visually impaired pedestrians.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all public infrastructure – including roundabouts – to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. But just because a roundabout meets the letter of the law doesn’t mean it’s truly usable or safe, especially for those who depend on sound to navigate. Without mitigation solutions like tactile paving and audible signals, it leaves little room for a blind person to safely navigate a roundabout amid continuous moving traffic – and the precise number (or percentage) of inaccessible roundabouts simply isn’t tracked at a national level.
Decades of safety scrapped?
With bipartisan resistance from lawmakers concerning the pedestrian bridge in Traverse City, strong local pushback, and mounting safety concerns, it’s fair to ask: why the rush to bulldoze a pedestrian bridge that’s served the city for nearly 60 years?
The DNR says it’s about ADA compliance, but that explanation rings hollow in a state where roundabouts are installed like pop-up shops – even though blind and visually impaired residents struggle to navigate them safely. Traverse City is simply asking for the DNR to listen to common sense in their plans for the bridge. But for many, that seems to be in shorter supply than orange construction barrels.
