Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


While one bridge bundling project has wrapped up, another is starting up on Monday.

The Michigan Department of Transportation’s bridge bundling pilot project encompasses major improvements to 19 locally owned bridges in 2022 – including two in Livingston County.

The Mason Road bridge over the south branch of the Shiawassee River was recently repaired (pictured middle, bottom). However, the road is not re-opening to traffic immediately. MDOT and the Livingston County Road Commission have collaborated to allow the Road Commission to take advantage of the bridge closure to start a road project.

The road and bridge will remain closed until around October 1st - when the county’s project is completed. Delaying the re-opening, at the county’s request, was designed to reduce inconvenience for stakeholders by condensing two potential closures into one tighter timeframe.

Livingston County Road Commission Managing Director Steve Wasylk said Mason Road is a vital connector for numerous areas in the county. It also serves as an alternate route if I-96 is closed for any reason, making the condition of the bridge very important.
Wasylk said prior to construction, they had reduced loading on the bridge and numerous holes in the deck. He said having the Mason Road bridge included in the Bridge Bundling Pilot was a tremendous benefit to be able to fix the bridge with no impact on their budget.

Livingston County’s other bridge in the program, the Iosco Road bridge, will be closed starting Monday for a rehabilitation project. While not as highly traveled as Mason Road, Wasylk said it’s another important connection.

Iosco Road will be closed from Kane Road to Elliott Road. The Road Commission advises there will be high traffic impact as the bridge will be competently closed to traffic through mid-October. Detours routes are posted.

This year's bridge bundling pilot project, the first of its kind in Michigan, is repairing 19 bridges in serious or critical condition that are owned by local agencies. Each bridge will have its superstructure replaced, which includes full removal and replacement of the bridge deck and supporting beams.

The pilot project is funded by federal Highway Improvement Program (HIP) dollars. MDOT bridge staff and consultants did preliminary design and construction administration work for the bridge bundling program.

An online dashboard at Michigan.gov/BridgeBundling provides project updates and shows percent completion, detour routes, and other information for each project and allows the public to track progress.

The pilot program is only the first phase of the bridge bundling initiative with $196 million in federal COVID relief funds appropriated by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature will allow the state to execute Phase II of the bridge bundling program, beginning later this year, to address 59 more bridges.

A list of the Phase II bridges, which were prioritized based on regional mobility and safety, is available in the provided link. Phase II focuses on closed and load-posted bridges. Some will be permanently removed while others will be fully replaced.

Some local projects have also been selected as part of Phase II. They include the McCabe Road bridge over the Huron River, which has been closed for years now; the Bowdish Road bridge over an unnamed creek; and the Dexter-Chelsea Road bridge over Mill Creek.

MDOT says the bridge bundling, which covers several bridge locations under one contract, streamlines coordination and permitting, increases economies of scale, and improves bridge conditions on local routes around the state. MDOT further noted it’s working to expand the approach, already in use on state trunkline projects, to address locally owned bridges.