GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Work gets underway Monday to replace a nearly century-old section of the Martin Luther King Jr. Street bridge over US-131 in Grand Rapids.
The Michigan Department of Transportation is rebuilding roughly 700 feet of the bridge’s eastern section, which was built in the 1920s to cross the railroad tracks below. Some original components are still in place. The project will cost about $20 million, MDOT confirmed.
“A lot of history of this bridge, but the condition — the beams, the deck — it needs to be replaced,” MDOT spokesperson John Richard said. “We’ve had this area restricted with weight sometimes over the years, just because the bridge is so old. It can’t take that weight.”…