Judd Street in Harbor Springs closed for retaining wall construction
HARBOR SPRINGS — Judd Street in Harbor Springs will be closed for the next 6-8 weeks while construction kicks off to replace the retaining wall.
Construction began April 2, with workers starting by clearing vegetation behind the wall, said Harbor Springs DPW Director Lucas VanderZee.
The street will be closed to both pedestrian and vehicle traffic while work is being done on the wall.
“It’s a very small area that they have to work, so there will be construction vehicles and equipment taking up the majority of the space,” VanderZee said.
In total, the city is removing and replacing 332 feet of wall. The wall, with 12-18 inches of concrete and tiebacks into the bluff, is being removed in sections and replaced with a Redi-Rock wall, made up of stacked blocks that interlock together. The wall will vary between nine and 10.5 feet tall.
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Judd Street serves as a connection between uptown and downtown, VanderZee said, and the retaining wall is on the north side to hold back the cut in the bluff to allow for a level road surface.
He said that while the wall hasn’t had any failures, the reconstruction of the retaining wall will allow for better visibility.
“People have a fairly good idea of why it’s being replaced,” VanderZee said. “We removed the very north section of (the wall) in 1997, and this is just the next step in replacing the entire wall.
“It was kind of unsightly and it leaned in towards traffic. This will open it up and make it have better visibility and be a little safer.”
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Judd Street in Harbor Springs closed for retaining wall construction
