BETHEL TOWNSHIP — Log Road is closed.
The Branch County Road Commission erected steel barricades on both sides of the Log Road bridge over Swan Creek on Thursday, May 29, after a notice from state and federal transportation authorities earlier in the week, said road commission manager Jay Miller.
Miller warned in April that the order to close the bridge halfway along the 1.5-mile road between U.S. 12 and Central Road was imminent after the official inspection.
The bridge requires an annual safety inspection, which state officials now handle under federal requirements.
The 1982 bridge shows missing and unstable support between the three giant culverts. The metal culverts are crumbling. Water from Swan Creek flows through the metal tubes.
The road commission prohibited through trucks last spring and lowered the maximum weight limit to 15 tons.
Miller is not sure when or how the bridge can be replaced. There are no county funds now.
Michigan Department of Transportation authorized an engineering firm to design a replacement.
“When that’s done, we will have some idea of the costs,” Miller said.
The road commission requested that the Log Road Bridge receive state funding through MDOT’s 2025 Bridge Bundling program.
Whether the project makes the list won’t be decided until 2026.
Miller said 2028 would be the soonest for contracts for the work.
Without state funding, the road commission and Bethel Township would need to fund the work.
One MDOT Bridge Bundle project, expected this summer, was delayed.
Reconstruction of the Central Road Coldwater River bridge just west of Angola Road was scheduled for the summer of 2025.
Miller said that because of issues with one of the other four bridges, the five-bridge bundle won’t be bid on until August, pushing the work to the summer of 2026.
Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: State orders Log Road bridge closed for safety; future uncertain
Reporting by Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter / Coldwater Daily Reporter
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