Sturgeon Bay bridge closes to fix crash damage, will close again for routine maintenance

Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·2 min read
Height restriction signs are posted for traffic crossing the Michigan Street Bridge in Sturgeon Bay, which closed for about four hours May 16 to repair damage from a vehicle taller than those restrictions damaging overhead traffic lights. The bridge will close again during the day from May 20 to 23 for unrelated routine maintenance.
Height restriction signs are posted for traffic crossing the Michigan Street Bridge in Sturgeon Bay, which closed for about four hours May 16 to repair damage from a vehicle taller than those restrictions damaging overhead traffic lights. The bridge will close again during the day from May 20 to 23 for unrelated routine maintenance.

STURGEON BAY - The historic Michigan Street Bridge closed for about four hours for emergency repairs from a crash Thursday, ahead of its closing for routine maintenance unrelated to the crash for four days next week.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced in a press release that a vehicle whose height was too tall to fit under the bridge's span damaged the bridge's overhead flashing traffic signals shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday.

The bridge was closed to traffic at 11 a.m. while Door County Highway Department and DOT crews conducted repair operations. Those repairs were completed shortly before 3 p.m., at which time the bridge reopened.

The bridge's overhead beams have been damaged by too-tall vehicles before, with such an incident in October of 2021 closing the bridge for several hours that day, then again for two weeks that December and two more weeks in February 2022 for further repairs.

Mark Kantola, Northeast region communications manager for the DOT, said height restrictions are posted at both ends of bridges with overhead spans on state highways – the Michigan Street Bridge has posted height limits of 13 feet, 6 inches at the top of its span and 11 feet, 6 inches at the curbs – and drivers of semitrucks and other vehicles carrying especially tall loads need to be aware of those restrictions and plan their routes accordingly.

With that repair completed, crews will go back to work on the Michigan Street Bridge from Monday to Thursday, May 20 to 23, for planned cleaning, painting and maintenance not related to the crash.

The bridge will close from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. each of those four days. A detour won't be posted, but those driving through the city can use the Maple-Oregon Bridge a couple blocks away to cross the Sturgeon Bay channel downtown, and the Bayview Bridge on State 42/57 bypassing the city's business district is another option.

The Michigan Street Bridge opened in 1931, crossing the channel separating the east and west sides of downtown Sturgeon Bay. The steel bridge is the only one of its design remaining in operation in Wisconsin. Following an effort by a community organization called Citizens for Our Bridge to save and preserve it from planned demolition, the bridge was placed on the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places in 2007 and the National Register of Historic Places a year later because of its rare and significant engineering. It underwent a more than two-year rehabilitation starting in 2008.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Sturgeon Bay bridge closes for crash, will close again for maintenance