Bridges in Jackson, Lenawee counties replaced as part of MDOT local agency bridge bundling program

LANSING, Mich. ­- The Hanover Road bridge in Jackson County and the Townline Highway bridge in Lenawee County, both under construction this year, were completed and reopened to traffic recently as the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) bridge bundling program continues to support local agencies working to improve bridge conditions.

The bridges were part of phase three of this innovative program to assist local agencies with bridge replacements. These bridges were among five in a $9.8 million design-bid-build bridge bundle in MDOT's University and Southwest regions. The Hanover Road bridge, under construction since October 2025, reopened May 27; the Townline Highway bridge, under construction since November 2025, reopened June 30.

The Hanover Road Bridge over the South Branch of the Kalamazoo River in Pulaski Township had been closed to traffic since June 2019, when an inspection found buckling in the steel beams of the 1938 structure. The Jackson County Department of Transportation (JCDOT) had applied for replacement funding over several cycles, so officials said having MDOT select it for the bundling program was a great outcome.

"Reopening the Hanover Road Bridge restores an important link between two county primary roads, one that matters to commuters, area farmers and first responders," said Charles Briner, JCDOT director of engineering. "With it closed, emergency vehicles faced a 9-mile detour that added about 15 minutes to response times. Getting this bridge back open is a real benefit to the community."

"The bridge bundling program has worked extremely well for Jackson County," Briner said. "As a local agency, a full bridge replacement is a heavy lift. The coordination among MDOT, the design consultant and the contractor was excellent, and we'd gladly take part again."

Local officials also deemed the Lenawee County project a success."The Townline Highway bridge was in critical condition and has been closed to traffic for years," said Scott Merillat, managing director of the Lenawee County Road Commission.

"While it has been closed, we explored other funding sources; however, limited bridge funding meant this structure was never funded. Including this bridge in the bridge bundling pilot project allowed its replacement. We are thrilled that the bridge will open, as the detour in place has affected school bus routes, commuters, farmers and emergency vehicles for many years."

MDOT continues to work on phase three bridge bundling projects around Michigan in collaboration with local agency bridge owners. A complete schedule of projects is available online.

Bridge bundling, which packages several bridge locations under one contract, streamlines coordination and permitting, increases economies of scale and improves bridge conditions on local routes around the state. In October 2024, MDOT was awarded competitive federal grant funding on behalf of local agencies, allowing additional bridge bundle projects to be built to further improve local agency-owned bridge conditions in urban areas. Over the past five years, this program has delivered 38 bridge replacements and removals to boost the overall safety of the transportation network in Michigan. Coordination and collaboration among MDOT, local agency owners and consultants have been critical to the program's success. Through its consultants, MDOT provided scoping, planning, environmental clearance, design, construction and inspection services without any cost to the local agencies.