Mount Clemens bridge comes down after car crash

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A pedestrian bridge in Mount Clemens will have to come down after a car hit it, with the road closure that's in effect and how long it could last.

Joe Fanelli is always looking forward to the weekend but on Friday he arrived to an unwelcome site for the longtime owner of Buscemi's at the corner of Groesbeck Highway and Rose Street in Mount Clemens.

MDOT has Groesbeck closed right outside his front door.

"I guess it's a hit and run you would call it, they don't know who did it and they did a lot of damage out there," Fanelli said.

MDOT says it’s a matter of safety.

"That steel has been compromised. That bridge has to come down,"  said Diane Cross, Michigan Dept. of Transportation. "We can't let traffic drive underneath it, we can't let anyone walk over it."

That means a slight inconvenience to drivers and businesses in the area. MDOT is already in the process of bidding out the demolition job.

"They will just grab the middle of that, pull it down and clean the debris and re-open the roadway," Cross said.

And they hope to have the intersection back to normal by as soon as Saturday. It is welcome news to a man who relies on traffic to make a living.
 
Steve Jonas was sad to see the bridge go, hoping a new one will take its place.

"I've even walked my bike up the stairs and rode it over then walked down the stairs," Jonas said.

Fanelli sees it differently.

"It's a dinosaur," he said.

He says the old bridge was designed for a school that has since been repurposed and thinks there is no longer a need.

Once the bridge is taken down the next step will determining whether or not it's worth it to replace that bridge. That will be up to the local government to decide.