Renovation of Monroe's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge continues

MONROE — The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge could reopen June 30 or sooner.

The 36-year-old pedestrian bridge is undergoing its first major overhaul. The bridge connects downtown Monroe’s St. Mary’s Park to the Riverwalk and the Riverfront parking lot.

“The contract completion date is June 30. The contractor is very confident they will meet that, perhaps beat it by a week or two,” said Patrick Lewis, director of engineering and public services for the city of Monroe. “Lighting is the final element, and can be performed once the bridge is put back into service.”

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Other parts of the months-long renovation project include repair of the south side steps, a new chain link fence and new paint.

“We're also replacing the wood decking with synthetic. During construction we found a few minor steel elements that needed some spot repair and replacement, but nothing major,” Lewis said.

Lewis said the bridge was never unsafe for use.

“The bridge absolutely was safe, and while this work needed to be done due to the age and condition, there was nothing unsafe about it. Like everything else, it needs TLC, and we tried to be proactive enough before it became a safety issue,” Lewis said.

Fishbeck Engineers of Novi is the project's design engineer. Completing the renovation is Z Contractors of Shelby Township. The project cost was estimated at $1.42 million.

“With every project, we encumber a little more than that because you always find some unknowns, but with engineering costs and contingencies, it's in the $1.5 to $1.6 million range, total depending on how much contingency we ultimately use,” Lewis said.

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Little work has been done on the bridge since it was constructed in 1988. The prefabricated structure also originally had wood plank decking.

“The bridge has been painted (not cleaned, which limits the life of the paint system), and some lighting changes have occurred, but nothing nearly of the scale of this project. Anything before this rehab has been maintenance level,” Lewis said.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge project is part of the city council’s goal to improve the local park system. The city most recently improved Carins Park.

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“(It’s for) quality of life enhancements, promoting non-motorized transportation (as contemplated in our 15-year streets and trails millage passed in 2020) and supporting connectivity and activity in our downtown district,” Lewis said.

— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Rehabilitation of Monroe's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge