Lift bridge maintenance still planned for this month

It won’t be mid-month, but another round of maintenance is still planned for the Portage Lake Lift Bridge by the end of January. The Michigan Department of Transportation should begin the work sometime next week, and once again there will be lane closures and overnight disruptions.

Spokesman Dan Weingarten says crews will be pulling up motors used inside the twin towers that elevate the middle part of the two-tiered span. He says the delay is because of the prep work needed for the lift.

Weingarten expects the inside lanes in both directions to be blocked off along with overnight closures in 20- to 30-minute intervals.

Once the tower work is complete, crews will be off the bridge until March. Normally it is locked until the 31st of that month for snowmobile traffic, but if MDOT’s schedule holds the trail will be pulled up by 3/20.