Main Street Bridge gets ready to reopen in downtown Dexter

The second half of Dexter’s Main Street Bridge is about to come online. Workers at the Washtenaw County Road Commission plan to begin building the rest of the bridge deck next week. If all goes well and snow stays out of the forecast, county officials expect to reopen the entire bridge by the end of November. “We’re thinking traffic will be allowed in the full width of the bridge right around the first week of December,” says Aaron Berkholz, construction superintendent with the Washtenaw County Road Commission.The road commission has been rebuilding the old, worn out bridge for most of this year. It began by tearing out the century-old dam beneath before workers refurbished half of the bridge. The other side was left open to allow for traffic to pass. Once the first half was finished, the road commission directed motorists to the new half and began tearing out the other side. The entire project is expected to wrap up next spring when the road commission adds some finishing touches, such as paint and landscaping. The bridge is connected to a major artery into Dexter, just west of downtown. The decades-old structure had worn down to the point where its pot holes had pot holes. The dam below had ceased to be useful, accumulating sediment at one end of the creek. Removal of the dam will allow for the marsh like area to be drained and a river walk to be installed on the west side of downtown. Source: Aaron Berkholz, construction superintendent with the Washtenaw County Road CommissionWriter: Jon Zemke