Meeting Halfway: 2018 Bridge Walk to Start at Both Ends
The Mackinac Bridge Authority approves changes for 2018 event.
For years, people who wanted to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day could board a bus in Mackinaw City and be taken across the Straits of Mackinac to the starting point in St. Ignace.
But the cost of providing transportation has become a bridge too far for the agency that manages the 61-year-old landmark.
The Mackinac Bridge Authority is decided to start the 2018 bridge walk at both ends of the bridge, eliminating the need for buses.
“Once they get to the center of the bridge, they would turn around and walk back in the direction they came from,” says Bob Sweeney. He’s the CEO of the Mackinac Bridge Authority. Sweeney says adopting this change would achieve several goals, including reducing the cost of the event.
“We’re still going to have significant costs in putting this on, but it’s the cheapest option we have on the table,” Sweeney says.
Under this option, walkers will still be allowed to cross the entire length of the bridge, but Sweeney says they’re on their own when it comes to getting a ride back to the other side.
The authority ruled out other options that would have required buses to carry people over the bridge.
In the past, people were allowed to drive north across the bridge during the walk. That ended in 2017, when the authority closed the bridge to all but buses and emergency vehicles. State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommended the closure in response to terrorist attacks against large public targets, although no specific threat was made against the bridge walk.
Sweeney says the closure didn’t cause any traffic problems, but the lines to get on a bus were so long that many people missed their chance to walk. He says the authority wants to avoid that problem in 2018. He also says future walks might not be held on Labor Day.
The walk will be held on Sept. 3, 2018.
