Mackinac Bridge Authority to end token redemption Dec. 31
If you use tokens to pay to cross the Mackinac Bridge, time is running out to use them.
Bridge tokens were discontinued for use in toll lanes three years ago, but the Mackinac Bridge Authority now says they will no longer be refunded at the bridge after Dec. 31.
The Mackinac Bridge Authority says dwindling demand forced it to stop accepting the bridge tokens in the toll lanes on Sept. 10, 2019. And, now since interest in redeeming tokens has also diminished — less than 1% of all tokens issued remain in circulation — it's time to take them out of circulation.
"Only a few customers bring in tokens anymore for reimbursement and there is quite a paperwork process each time they do," said Mackinac Bridge Authority Director Kim Nowack said in a news release. "We've given customers three years to sell back their tokens to us and it's time to turn remaining tokens into collectors' items."
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Until Dec. 31, customers can redeem bridge tokens at the Mackinac Bridge Authority office at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge. Though many tokens were purchased for a much lower cost, the authority said, the tokens can be redeemed at the full price of $4 for the first 24 tokens and $1.50 for every token thereafter.
The Mackinac Bridge Authority has issued many different versions of the tokens over the years, available in rolls of 24. Commemorative token sets of two memorializing people such as Prentiss Brown, a U.S. representative and senator from the state of Michigan, and David Steinman, the Mackinac Bridge architect, as well as eight different designs in honor of the Mackinac Straits ferries, are still available as keepsakes at: https://www.MackinacBridge.org/Shopping/Token-Gift-Packs-Medallion/.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mackinac Bridge Authority to end token redemption Dec. 31
