The replacement of a deteriorating bridge will shut down a busy Jackson street for five months. E. High Street between Executive Drive and South Street will close to traffic on Monday, May 9 for the Michigan Department of Transporation (MDOT) to replace the E. High crossing over the Grand River.
The $2 million project from MDOT will replace the bridge beams, repave and widen the concrete driving surface, and upgrade railings on each side. Built in 1963, the E. High Street bridge is an important connection between a large industrial park on the southeast side of Jackson and U.S. 127. The City of Jackson Engineering Division says the aging bridge cannot keep up with the increasing heavy truck traffic and now requires a complete replacement.
This construction project is expected to be completed in Oct. 2022. A detour will take drivers to Losey Avenue and South Street. Three other MDOT bridge replacements are currently underway in the City of Jackson. An aging bridge over the Grand River on E. Washington Avenue is getting replaced, along with two railroad bridges in Downtown Jackson over N. Mechanic and N. Jackson streets. The E. Washington project is expected to wrap up later with month, with the railroad bridges working toward a Nov. 2022 completion.