ST. IGNACE, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Mackinac Bridge is once again temporarily closed due to ice conditions.
The bridge closed on Wednesday around 3:00 a.m., with the Michigan Department of Transportation citing falling ice. There is no scheduled time for the bridge to be reopened.
“Unlike high wind closures where weather forecasts can give us solid information on when winds are expected to diminish, guessing when ice will fall and stop falling is just a guess,” said Mackinac Bridge Director Kim Nowack. “Factors like wind, sunshine and rising temperatures may give us hints that falling ice may be imminent, but no clear timing. For the safety of all involved, we need to keep our system simple: when ice is falling from the towers and cables, we close the bridge until it stops.”
This is the third day that the Mackinac Bridge has experienced a closure because of ice falling from cables and towers. Monday’s closure lasted approximately three hours, while Tuesday’s lasted for approximately ten hours.
The Mackinac Bridge Authority says more closures are likely, as freezing rain has created several inches of ice on parts of the bridge. The Authority calls the amount of ice “unprecedented.”
According to the Mackinac Bridge Authority, sheets of ice as large as garage doors have fallen from the flat surfaces of the bridge towers. Ice spears have formed on and fallen from the suspender cables, and chunks that form on the upper cables fall hundreds of feet. A press release states that some pieces of ice that have survived falling are as large as a loaf of bread, and that windshields and roofs have been caved in on both Bridge Authority and private vehicles.
“Given the amount of ice that remains on the cables and towers, any falling ice closures are likely to be lengthy, and could start and stop at any time,” Nowack said. “Local emergency and relief services are strained, many local businesses are closed, and there are still power outages in the Straits area, so we discourage travelers from coming here expecting to cross the bridge. Please don’t travel here if it’s not absolutely necessary.”
Anyone who needs to cross the bridge is encouraged to text “MacBridge” to 67283 to receive updates. WZMQ 19 will update this story once the bridge reopens.
