Wayne County approves $9.3M in repairs for Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge
The Wayne County Commission unanimously approved $9 million in emergency funding to repair the closed Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge or as many people know it a the free bridge.
and last updated 2021-02-04 22:37:45-05
GROSSE ILE, Mich. (WXYZ) â The Wayne County Commission unanimously approved $9.3 million in emergency funding to repair the closed Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge or as many people know it a the free bridge.
The bridge has been shut down for months because of erosion under the bridge.
âIt was a hit to us,â said owner of Smokies on the water Scott McBeath. The free bridge is a lifeline for businesses and people living on the island.
Emergency plan for Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge approved. What to know
The Wayne County Commission on Thursday unanimously approved an emergency $9 million contract to repair and reopen the Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge by fall.
Commissioners approved the contract with Wisconsin-based J.F. Brennan Company for foundation rehabilitation work on the bridge that extends over the Trenton Channel in Grosse Ile Township and Trenton. The bridge has been closed since May.
Engineering work is expected to begin immediately. Construction is set to get underway in early April, with the bridge projected to reopen in September, Wayne County officials said.
Beverly Watts, the county s director of public services, prior to the vote on Thursday said the bridge one of the county s oldest was already on life support when she stepped into the role in 2016. It s being inspected every six months and safety, she added, has been the top priority.
It s been almost a year since officials deemed the Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge unsafe and in desperate need of repairs, and residents are frustrated.
Since officials closed the bridge and shut down the only free way of getting onto the island, residents are forced to take the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge. The toll bridge is the only entry point into the island for vehicles.
Eighth-generation Grosse Ile resident Kyle de Beausset, 34, became frustrated, so he decided to start a lottery club for the island to hopefully fix the community s bridge with $100 million.
He said the lottery club was originally a fun way to bring people together. However, considering a $1 billion jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket was sold in Novi 46 miles away from Grosse Ile the lotto club wasn t far off from winning.
He wants to buy a new one, for about $100 million.
All he and his associates need to do first is cash the winning ticket in Friday s $970 million Mega Millions drawing, a simple matter of beating odds of 302 million to 1. What they will do with the remaining $870 million, besides pay taxes, is up to each lucky bettor in their lottery pool. The idea behind this is to get past the frustration a little bit, de Beausset said. Vent a little bit. Dream a bit.
De Beausset, 34, is the point man for a loosely organized project called Fix Our Bridge, as in the Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge, as in the free bridge to the island township of 10,000-plus residents who would just as soon not pay tolls or row a boat to get to and from their homes.