By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Ortonville — Beginning July 6, three road bridges in the village will be under construction for up to six weeks.
The bridge on Mill Street will remain open and Ball street will close for a few days, but the bridge at South Street will be closed for longer. There is a 6-week timeframe for the work to be completed, though it is not expected to take up the whole six weeks.
The construction is part of a grant with the Michigan Department of Transportation.
It was approved at the Feb. 28 meeting by the village council.
“It’s preventative maintenance that needs to happen on all three bridges,” said village manager Ryan Madis.
The village will pay 5 percent of costs, and the state will pay the other 95 percent. The cost to the village will be around $12,900, which was already budgeted for.
“The Ball Street bridge is a 2 or 3 day project, and the Mill Street bridge is a less-than-a-week project, they’re both very minor, and both can maintain normal traffic while being worked on,” said Madis. “The South Street bridge, however, is the timber frame bridge, so you can’t drive on half of it while they’re working on the other half because it’s very unsafe.”
No work will begin prior to July 6, and the village offices will continue to communicate with the community.