Lift Bridge closures anticipated next week

Correction: MDOT says the snow will be placed back on the lift bridge next week. “Providing all goes as planned and the test lifts are completed in those two nights, the club will be able to place snow again after Wednesday and the trail should be open for the remainder of the season.”

Crews will be back on the Portage Lake Lift Bridge late on Monday and Tuesday to test the recently installed motors in the span’s two towers. Closures are not expected to last long, around 10 minute intervals. Everything is expected to be completed between 10 PM and 5:30 AM on the nights in question. The Michigan Department of Transportation advises that weather may play a role in whether the tests are executed on time.

The snow will need to be removed from the lower level closing the sled crossing to traffic. Workers will be doing that prior to the closures for the bridge as a whole, somewhere between 7 AM and noon on Monday. It will remain bare until the lift tests are completed.