Waiting Rooms Ready For Bridge Closure

You don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of the canal this Saturday night when they close the Portage Lake Lift Bridge for maintenance. But if you do, there are places you can go to wait it out.

The bridge connecting Houghton to Hancock will be closed from around 9pm Saturday and is expected to reopen around 7am Sunday.

M-DOT says the closure is required to disconnect lift cables from the bridge’s lift span.

If you find yourself unable to cross and without an alternate place to stay for the night, two locations have agreed to provide warm places to wait until the bridge reopens.

The Magnusson Hotel Franklin Square Inn in Houghton is one.  Lakeview Manor in Hancock is the other.

That’s Housing Commission Executive Director Sherry Hughes.  She says they will do what they can to make trapped motorists comfortable.

Additional short and long term closures of the bridge will continue until the project is completed in March.