Bridge work pushed off until this week

New signs have gone up warning of upcoming work on the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Originally scheduled for last week, closures are now expected to happen tonight and early Friday. The Michigan Department of Transportation says the span will be closed entirely to vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic intermittently between 12:15 and 5:15 am on the affected days. The closures will allow crews to safely hoist lift motors into each tower. The inside lane in either direction will also need to be shut down.

Overnight work has rarely occurred on Friday morning, but the Winter Carnival all-nighter has forced a tentative change to the schedule this time. MDOT says all construction is weather dependent and can be modified. Another round of snow is expected to begin Tuesday night through Wednesday bringing one to three inches to the area.