Today, on Monday, January 30th, it begins again. Yes, more bridge work here in Traverse City. Both the north Cass Street bridge (between Grandview Parkway and Front Street) and the south Union Street bridge (between State Street and Sixth Street) will have their decking replaced, sidewalks expanded, and other improvements, work that will not be completed until June.
The first concreate bridge over Union Street was constructed in 1931. Union was originally US 31, so it was an important route through town. Thankfully, the highway was moved west to Division. Can you imagine how terrible it would be if the highway going through Old Towne? The bridge is a little rough, especially the crumbling decorative balustrades.
The Cass Street bridge is far younger, built in 1960. It doesn’t look as bad, but it apparently needed to have work done, and the city got a discount for doing two bridges at the same time.
BTW, Cass Street was named after Lewis Cass, the territorial governor of Michigan, senator, Secretary of War under Andrew Jackson, and presidential nominee who was defeated by Zachary Taylor.
Though it will be a big pain in the butt for residents (like the recent south Cass Street, Park Street, and Eighth Street bridges were in the past few years), it’s work that needs to get done, so we’ll just have to deal with it for a few months.
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