UP construction expected to cause travel delays Memorial Day weekend

UPPER MICHIGAN (WLUC) – Memorial Day weekend marks the start of the U.P. tourism season, and travelers are expected to experience traffic.

More visitors and ongoing construction could cause travel delays, especially on the Mackinac Bridge.

Zenith Tech, the company hired to perform the work, cited additional patchwork and difficulty finding workers as reasons for the delay in the Mackinac Bridge repaving project. Mackinac Bridge Authority Chief Engineer Cole Cavalieri said the contractor’s work is weather-dependent.

“We have a very short window,” Cavalieri said. “So we’re always trying to balance here at the bridge, doing our important rehab work and then keeping the bridge open to traffic as much as possible.”

The bridge will continue to have one lane open in each direction. Cavalieri recommends visitors plan to travel during off-peak times. Holiday weekends see a lot of northbound traffic on Fridays, with peaks between 1-4 p.m.

About 100,000 vehicles will cross the bridge during the holiday weekend.

“I know it’s a beautiful view off the bridge, but really focus on the roadway, watch out for workers, pay attention to signs,” Cavalieri said.

Cavalieri apologized for the delay and asked visitors to be patient for everyone’s safety. The bridge will open all toll lanes to keep traffic moving.

MDOT Communications Representative Daniel Weingarten said it’s one of summer’s busier weekends.

“Don’t allow yourself to get distracted, especially not in a construction zone, because we want everybody to get to their vacation destinations safely and get home safely,” Weingarten said.

There are 18 active projects in the U.P., and MDOT will remove lane restrictions on half of the projects.

M-28 on Trout Creek in Ontonagon County and the M-35 project in Gwinn will have one lane of alternating traffic with stoplights.

“Leave extra time so you don’t have to hurry to get to your destination,” Weingarten said.

Weingarten recommends drivers use MDOT’s online Mi Drive Map. People can access up-to-date road information like construction or lane closures on their mobile devices.

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