The Michigan Department of Transportation is defending recent closures of the Mackinac Bridge due to a build up of ice on the cables and bridge towers. Kim Nowack is the director of the Mackinac Bridge Authority and says while they know the bridge closures are a big inconvenience, it’s a safety issue.
“We have had our maintenance vehicles damaged by falling ice,” says Nowack. “We’ve had roofs caved in on our pickup trucks, windshields broken, and the drivers were very scared when that happened, obviously. Fortunately, they haven’t been injured and we haven’t had any injuries from the falling ice.”
MDOT officials have been trying to figure out a way to prevent the ice, which is the result of changing weather patterns. Closures typically last about five hours.
