Road commission working with EGLE to re-open Longbridge Road.

Oceana County Road Commission photo.

Road commission working with EGLE to re-open Longbridge Road.

PENTWATER TOWNSHIP  – Longbridge Road has been closed for nearly six months due to flooding caused by record high water levels, and local officials are working with state experts on a solution to get the road back open.

However, residents impacted by the closure are not optimistic that the road will open before winter.

Last month, the Oceana County Road Commission unanimously approved authorization of $200,000 plus engineering costs to fix the flooded road, which crosses Pentwater Lake at the Pentwater River outlet.

Residents on the south side of Pentwater Lake must take a 14-mile detour to get to the other side of the lake. Those impacted by the closure have been adamant that the road commission must fix the road.

Oceana County Road Commission Managing Director Mark Timmer provided an update on the plan with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to raise the road a foot higher.

“As many of you know, we submitted a design and permit application to EGLE (formerly DEQ) Tuesday Oct. 1, 2019 to raise Longbridge Road from the bridge 650 feet north to Monroe Rd (US 31 Business Route),” Timmer stated during the road commission’s regular meeting, Oct. 9. “The design will result in raising the centerline of the road so it is 1 foot higher than the record high water level.

“There will be 4 foot paved shoulders that may serve as a trail. There will be geo tech material on the bottom and geo grid halfway up the fill. The material on the bottom will be wrapped around the top to secure the fill from erosion and give it stability. Both the bottom geo tech material and the grid material are designed to spread the load and in essence ‘float’ the road.

“This type of construction is used to build roads over marshes and swamps. We will top the fill off with 8 inches of aggregate and 4 inches of asphalt. Heavy rip rap 18-24 inches will be placed on the bank slopes.

Oceana County Road Commission photo.

“We also submitted a hydraulic model which EGLE reviewed and requested more measurements for more precision. So last Friday, a coworker and I set up stationing with tall cones for visibility on Longbridge from Monroe across the bridge and causeway to the south, and our bridge engineer used sonar and a measuring rod in a kayak to establish additional profiles both upstream and downstream, and used the stationing for alignment in the water.

“These measurements were taken to the nearest 1/10 of a foot so they are precise. Monday our bridge engineer programmed these measurements into the model and submitted it to EGLE. EGLE has been very helpful, cooperative and punctual with this project.

“This morning, Tuesday Oct. 8, I spoke with the engineer from EGLE who is reviewing the modeling and she is working on it today and assured me it is a priority. What we need now is called ‘conditional approval’ from EGLE. How it has been explained to me is that it isn’t necessary to wait the whole 20 days of the public posting, IF we get overwhelming positive comments and no substantiated negative comments that show someone might be negatively impacted by the project. They also have to approve our hydraulic model after review.

“If you haven’t commented, we encourage you to positively comment to help our cause. The link is:
https://miwaters.deq.state.mi.us/miwaters/external/publicnotice/info/4856957697354664483/documents.

“We are hoping and praying for a good report. We have met with the geo tech material supplier, and they have the product available and set aside for the contractor for this project. We also have a quote on the paving. Upon approval of EGLE, we would start work almost immediately. We plan for the project to take approximately three weeks.”

Pentwater Township resident Mark Trierweiler formed a coalition called Open Longbridge Road Now!!!, which has aggressively worked to get the road open.

The following is an Oct. 14, 2019 letter Trierweiler sent to EGLE on behalf of the coalition:

“By the time you read this, it’s possible your agency will already have ruled to allow construction to begin immediately to re-open Longbridge Road, in which case you can disregard what follows. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Oceana County Road Commission photo.

“Many individuals and organizations like our own have been trying to get Longbridge Road open for almost a half year since the Oceana Country Road Commission closed it on May 1. Just when we had the OCRC convinced it was the right decision to open the road, there has been one unplanned delay or set-back after another, with your agency being the latest.

“We would rather be criticized for jumping the gun than to be seen as not doing enough to end this nightmare for the people of Pentwater Township. Quite frankly we’re out of patience…we’re out of options — and we are out of time!

“It seems you are the last roadblock to the OCRC being able to start the long delayed work necessary to reopen Longbridge Road after nearly six months, during which time we’ve seen emergency response times nearly double and our children’s time on the bus triple — all while enduring godawful delays, inconveniences, and increased expenses for something that was never planned for and never should have taken this long to fix.

“Yes, we are angered by the OCRC’s claims that the closure was necessary because of ‘public safety’ concerns when the exact opposite is true! Keeping Longbridge Road closed has never been about public safety. It has always been about protecting someone’s behind, all the while forcing the 1,500 people of Pentwater Township to shoulder 100 percent of the additional risks caused by the closure.

“Here are the facts about who is taking all the risks:
1. There has never been a recorded death on the bridge over Longbridge Road;
2. The people of Pentwater Township likely will end 2019 having experienced 130, or more, emergency runs, nearly every one of them delayed by a closure that never should have happened or, at a minimum, should have been fixed months ago;
3. You have the authority to end our misery, and in doing so quiet the fears we have for our families as a result of this road being closed for so long.

“By all means, do your job without further delay. And as you do, remember that the 1,500 people of Pentwater Township are counting on you to protect their behinds, too! For us that means getting Longbridge Road open now, while the work can be safely completed before the winter driving season makes our situation even more dire. It also means acknowledging that no one likes being needlessly placed at risk.

“The OCRC put the people of Pentwater Township at risk for a needless death or an accident made worse by unacceptably long emergency response times – because of the agency’s lack of planning and lethargic reaction to our emergency. The past is the past, but let’s get the road fixed — now!

“Deciding to keep Longbridge Road closed would be an unacceptable decision that would make your agency morally responsible for whatever happens as a consequence of that decision.

“Whatever you decide, please don’t say it’s for ‘public safety’ reasons now that that claim has been thoroughly discredited.

“We’ll all be praying for a quick and responsible decision to Open Longbridge Road Now!!!”

Record high water levels are causing numerous infrastructure problems in the Great Lakes region.

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