Michigan: Lafayette Avenue Bridge Replacement

Overdue Bridge Project Gets Green Light  

Challenge: The Lafayette Avenue Bridge over the Saginaw River, which was built in 1938 as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, has seen better days. In 2022 alone, the bridge closed 20 times for repairs. According to MLive, “Rebar is showing through the worn pavement and the concrete on the sidewalks is crumbling. The state was forced to postpone a project to replace the aging structure in late 2019 due to high projected costs.” 

Solution: But with help from the federal infrastructure investment law, the plan to replace the Lafayette Avenue Bridge has come back to life. The Michigan Department of Transportation is replacing everything from the watch tower to the foundations. Once it’s completed, the new bridge will provide 150-foot channel openings for maritime navigation and will sit approximately 22 feet above the water. Plans currently call for two 12-foot-wide lanes and 2-foot-wide shoulders. A 5-foot, 2-inch sidewalk is planned for one side with an 8-foot-wide shared-use path on the other.  For Bay City residents and visitors, a safer more reliable crossing is just ahead.  

What they’re saying: “The bascule bridges have heavy mechanical expectations and, while even new bridges are subject to unexpected failures to open and close on demand, this structure is 85 years old and far past its life expectancy.”  – MDOT spokeswoman Jocelyn Garza (The Detroit News, 4/13/2023) 

Photo credit: James LeMay, photographer, MDOT