News File Photo A pair of pick-up trucks cross over the Bagley Street bridge in this News File Photo.

ALPENA — At the rate current construction is proceeding on the Bagley Street bridge, it is likely the project won’t be completed until the middle of June.

Ryan Brege, the Alpena County Road Commission managing director, said crews just began some small jobs on the bridge that they will tackle before the structure needs to be closed once more. He said the closure could happen in the middle of April, and the detour that was used for the prior closure will be reinstituted.

The current target date for the reopening of the bridge is June 10, but Brege said weather and other factors could factor into the completion date.

“The contractor is trying to do a few things with the bridge still open,” he said. “They are trying to get as much done without a closure at this point.”

The bridge was originally supposed to be completed in late December of last year, but the contractor filed for an extension of the project with the road commission, and the board agreed to push back the completion date. Brege said an employee shortage, COVID-19, supply change issues, and a change to the bridge’s design were factors in the delay.

Now, Brege said, some of those issues seem to have subsided and he hopes the project can stay on schedule until the job is wrapped up.

“We have not received any indication that the contractor intends to file for another extension this year, ” Brege said. “But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t if they needed to. It would be up to the board to approve it.”

The $10.3 million reconstruction of the bridge began in February of last year and the bridge closed entirely to traffic to shorten the time it would take to do the work. The bridge was reopened on Dec. 17, with reduced speed limits, with the understanding that it would need to be closed once more when winter subsided.

Since the bridge was reopened, Brege said there haven’t been any issues with it, or the flow of traffic over it.

“Things have been going great,” he said.

The last time the bridge was closed, many motorists were forced to utilize a detour — taking drivers from Long Rapids Road, Chisholm Street to 11th Ave to Washington Ave — which caused significant traffic congestion and many crashes.

While the detour was implemented, local police and medical first responders urged drivers to pay close attention to the busy streets and not to speed to help avoid wrecks.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.