Find Out Why The Mackinac Bridge Is Temporarily Closed

The Mackinac Bridge has been unexpectedly closed. The closing is temporary, and you can find out why here.

Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge rarely closes. Even when they do repairs, crews usually have two lanes so travelers and freight can still cross.

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More than 4 million vehicles cross the Mackinac Bridge a year. Roughly 11,500 vehicles cross daily.

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The Mackinac Bridge rarely posts a road closed sign at each end of the bridge. Once a year, the bridge is closed for the Annual Bridge Walk on Labor Day. Since 1995, the Mighty Mac has only been closed 30 times for reasons outside the annual walk.  Closures range from 40 minutes to over 20 hours.

Read More: I Was Driving Behind the Tornado in Croton and Didn't Know it 

Why is The Mackinac Bridge Temporarily Closed?

On Sunday, when West and Southwest Michigan were getting thunderstorms and tornadoes. The northern part of the Lower Peninsula, from Grayling across the Upper Peninsula, received a severe ice storm.

My best friend, Curt, was in town this past weekend to do some steelhead fishing, and he had to drive back to the Upper Peninsula on Monday morning to go home. He texted me that the ice storm in Grayling was one of the worst he has ever driven in.

My friend Curt crossed the Mackinac Bridge on Monday at 12:30 p.m., and it closed at 2 p.m. the same day. Why did it close? Well, here's a visual from the Mackinac Bridge Authority:

The ice storm that hit the region was heavy. Ice chunks were falling from Mighty Mac's pillars and cables, and still are since the bridge is still closed. In 30 years, this is the worst ice storm to hit the Mackinac Bridge.